Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-02-19
.,THE sPOILs OF TIME"

are once more opened 10 DIS aching
eyes; other scenes again come thronging
in upon the mind until the heart swel!s
with its bursting fntuess. There is
spell of holiness about the past. We
love to linger among the relics offormer
times; in the sigh that we breathe over
the days tina, are gone there is a melan-
choly pleasure stealing into the very
neart; we seem to live again those sweet
hours when earth was young and hope
was strong; when the rainbow of life
was unbroken by SIN or care; before the
heart felt bitter pangs or the eye wept
burning tears. What 4 multitude OF
thoughts are stirred as the eye turns
back to take lingering gaze along the
path of human life; latent feelings, long
suppressed by the cares and Ills OF
cold and hollow world, rise in the mind
the fond remembrances of happy years
when youth and love were one; the
senses are lulled to peace as retrospect
ton, with magic chain, twined with
thought and linked about the heart, as
sumes the sway and draws back the
vanished hours. Once more l behold
the trackless Potomac which pours its
swelling tide in fetterless grandeur along
its winding way to the dark oceans
bosom. The tall greyrccks cfthe noun
tain cliff seem to greet me with their
rugged smile; the moss-grown trees, as
the winter wind stirs their hoary tops
almost seem to give nod OF recognl-
ton; thus is nature true, though change
should mark all else beside. But alas
what change in hall and hearth; faces
and footsteps are new and strange; ties
have been sundered-lips have betn
sealed in the graves unbroken silence,
as We have jouueyed towards, the hori-
zon that bounds the shores OF time we
turn to look for the companions of our
early pilgrimage and their faces are
missed where groups gather;-they have
out-stripped us in the race; others fol
lowed the rattle of the spirit-stirring
drum--the glittering bayonet--the
wheeling battalion-and with the full
formed line stood between their loved
homes and the wars desolation," until
wearied with battle they laid down to
rest in the unstartled fields OF the dead.
Even, the old town-clock strikes sad
der note of lime than in days of yore.
And there, too, stands the venerable
church whose very foundation stones
we love to reverence But where is that
holy man of God who ministered at its
altar; that christian giart, in the superb
development of those pure and lofty yir
tues that do most become man; the
daily beauty of whose life made other
men love his example7 The place that
once knew him, now knows him no
more. He has passed down the valley
the dark death valley-and has reached
the other shore. Beyond the river, he
is reaping the reward of rich harvest
amcng the followers of the Lamb, who
are feasting on the green pastures OF
Jchoyah's love.
But, until the silver cord be losed,
and the golden bowl be broken at the
cistcrn, there is another tie of tender
ness stronger than cord or cable. How
can we forget a sisters tomb? How
can we forget Wednesday, February
2nd, 1876, that cold and gloomy day,
and to many the saddest of the year,
when the wintry winds were signing
melancholy dirge, chill and loud around
the grave of LOUISA CHAPLlNE.
':And as the glorious and glittering orb
of day was sinking behind the western
horizon and he: remains were consi gued
TO the silent tomb in Elmwood Gene
terry" we were sadly reminded OF the
Enquiry,
"Tell me We winged winds that round my
pathway roar
Do We not know some spot where mortals
weep no more? =
Faith, Hope and Love, best boons to NOR
tails given.
Waved their bright wings and whispered
YES IN HEAvEN"'
In that happy land-far-far away
where the sun never sets and the flowers
are always in bloom-our sister is hap
ply, in the unclouded presence OF her
God. That the angel OF the Covenant
has given her harp whose strings can
never jar; she sings the praises Of the
Lamb that was slain in sweet song
that echoes through the arches of Heav-
en- ! How delightful that couhtenance
which has gazed upon her triumphant
Saviour! How happy that heart which
is free from suffering! Dear departed
sister, We once called You ours; We once
claimed alliance TO you, and layished
upon you our smiles and affection. We
now cherish your memory; we recall all
that was lovely in the days Of your So
journing with us, and we weep in soil
tude over our irreparable loss. The va
cant chair in tho corner-the flowers in
the window which she watched with
tender care all remind us that loved
one has passed away. The little stream
as it glides by the door, near the weep
ing willow, sadly murmurs, passing
away-passiug away to the great ocean
of eternity.
How little did We once think it would
be so; how rarely did it enter into our
minds that we might bury her so soon;
that the flowers OF spring would bios
som on her grave, and the pale violet
emblem of LIES sweetest joys and fair
est hopes, would droop aud die on the
turf which rests above her liieless re-
mains. But alas for human frailty
All must die! The rich and the poor.
The noble and the iynobie The ,vise