Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1876-12-16


Garry caught this solemn truth, and
warbled it in sweetest song
20, If my mortal feet
Have we'll nigh gained the brink
lit he that am nearer home,
Even to-uay, than / think,
Father perfect my trust;
Let my spirit feel In death
That aer feet are firmly fixed
On the rock OF a living faith
WE LEARN THE NECESSITY OF BEING
PREPARED FOR DEATH.
For in such an hour as We think not
the son of man cometh." No man or
woman went to that theatre expecting
to die. The number that were ready
| leave to the omnicient one. / have
intimated the disadvantages of the
place for prayer, and | now argue it as
an incentive to immediate preparation.
But you say you never attend theatres,
therefore never expect to be burned in
one. Never mind you drive horse,
work on scaffolding. ride on the rail-
road, blast rock, attend church, shoot
guns, carry pistols, sail on steamers,
skate on ice, work on bridges, or fol-
low some other avocation that argues
to you that
Changers lie thick on all the ground
To hurry mortals home"
Oh this is "a time for memory and
for tears" Shades Of departed loved
ones gather thick about me now
Yonder are my school I stand
by one, weltering in his own gore, in
the twilight Of his brightest earthly
ambition. | bend over the Iifeless
form of another brought home from a
hunt. The mangled, bleeding forms
of the friends of my later years stand
all about my room, and the grief
stricken cries of tear bathed widow
hood and helpless orphanage thrill my
heart and fill the breezes with the
prophets solemn warning, Prepare
to meet thy God" We learn from
this calamity that when we part with
our friends it may be the last parting,
and, therefore, should be in love. l
wonder if husband tore himself fret
fully away from an afflicted wife amid
her entreaties for his company and
companionship. ] wonder if father
slammed the door behind him, shock
ing the nerves of a suffering babe
Did young man go against the will
of a lonely mother =? Was there an
unhappy parting in all going
Brooklyn that night? Let us hope
not, and yet, let us learn that all our
partings should be such as would bring
pleasant memories in the event of
calamity. How many regretful last
partings have we experienced? How
often hove we said, "Oh, if I could
call back that parting scene |" IF we
only knew that we were taking our f.
nal farewell when we part with those
we love, how tender would be our
words, how tear-bathed our kisses I!
Indeed, we ought always to live With
reference to our final leave-taking Of
those we love. How touchingly did
Fish sing to us not long ago
"Strange we never prize the music
Till the sweet-voiced bird hastgownI
Strange that we should slight the VioIets
Till the lovely flowers are gonei
Strange that summer skies and sunshine
Never seem one half so fair
AS when winters snowy pimiOnS
Shake the white down on the air se
FIVE knew the baby fingers,
Pressed against the window-pane,
Would be cold and stiff Tomorrow
Never trouble us again
Would the bright eyes of our darling
Would the print of rosy fingers
Nex us then as they do now?
All! those little ice-eold fingers,
How they point our memories back
To the hasty words and actions
Strewn along our backward track
How those little hands remind us,
AS in snowy grace they lie,
Nor scatter thorns but roses
For our reaping by-and-by !"
How sad to think that the dear
friends of those unfortunate ones could
not recognize them. A mother or
wife, husband or child, brother or sis
ter might stand for hours and watch
with eager eye the excavation of the
dead but not face to be seen resem-
bling the loved and lost. The disfig-
ured, CHASTITY bodies were brought out
and placed in rough boxes and carried
away to the .norgue A mother says,
"Oh, can it be that my precious daugh-
ter is there2 A few hours ago she
turned away from her mirror and |
thought had never seen her look so
lovely in all her life. So fair, so ten
der, so gentle; can IT be that one Of
these horrid forms so void of human
appearance is my own sweet, precious
child? n She turns away from the
sickening scene, and leaves the object
of her love to be thrown into a rough
box and buried in a pauper's grave.
But our holy religion flashes CLEANS
of heavenly light upon this dark death
scene The dead shall rise. These
charred limbs shall come to their for
mer places, and bursted eye-balls shall
be returned to their sockets, and shall
flash with sweeter beams of love than
ever before. This would fail to give
the relief for which our immortal spir-
its sigh did not the blessed bible, truth
of heavenly recognition, shine forth to
cheer the heart. God who gave these
blackened, CHASTITY forms their original
features can restore them again. No
form so hideous but that be can trans
form it into a glorious resurrection
body, and clothe it in the pure robe of
heavenly glory. The dust of our dead
that years ago passed away is as indis-
tinguishable to-day as that of victim
of Brooklyn theatre. When the re-
mains of our sainted Bishop McKen-
dree were disinterred, nothing was
found but a very few of the larger
bones of that once manly form. No
human could distinguish them from
the bones of an ahoriginee, save by the
spot that contained them. But God
knows where every atom rests, and he
viii bid 1t rise. Let us cherish the
hope that if separation did take place
between the wicked and the just that !
heaven came in for much the largest |
share. And when we pray let us not
forget the grief-stricken ones in the |
city of Churches. !"
I. j. DUNCAN.
Auction Sale of Loose Tobacco.