The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-09-20

When next behold her figure,
At her will make spring,
A%a VII ;.y ike % sS;s M. yes 81 Ess bigger
Counting has q brief existence
Don't you interrupt again.
When Inn here, just Keep your distance.
Seraphina's sister amer London Fun.
THE GREAT RIDDLE OF THE FU,
TURE.
II is somewhat singular that the natura,
longing to penetrate the great secret 81
mortality should not have suggested tt
some Of tho inquircrs into sO-called "Spir
itual" NANTES. atiOns, that, before attempt
ing to obtain communication with the
dead, through such poor methods as raps
and alphabets, they might more properly,
and with better hope If gaining glimpse
through the "gates ajar," watch closely
the dying, and study the psychological
phenomena which accompany the act of
dissolution. Thus, it might be possible to
ascertain by comparison of numerous in.
stances, whether among those phenomena
are any which seem to indicate that tho
Mind, Soul or Self, of tho expiring person
is not undergoing u process Of extinction,
but exhibiting such tokens as might be
anticipated were it entering upon new
phase of existence. and coming into pos
session o. fresh faculties. 1t is at least
conceivable that some such indications
might be observed, were we to look for
them with care and caution, under the
rare conditions wherein they could at any
time be afforded; and if this should prove
TO be the fact, it is needless to 6ilate on
the intense interest Of even such semblance
n Err, at Of hc,.
To regard anything which could be so
noticed as anything more, or as if it could
constitute an argument for belief in q
future life, would he foolish in the ex.
tremc, seeing the great Obscurity and the
cvancsccnt nature of all such phenomena.
Our faith in immortality must be built on
altogether different ground, if it is to be
of any value rs part of our religion, or
of our philosophy. But assuming that
We are individually already convinced
that the Quasi-univcrsal creed of the hu-
man race is not erroneous, and that 81 the
soul of man never dies" We may not
unreasOnabiy turn to the solemn scene of
dissolution, ard ask whether there does
not sometimes Occult, under one or two
perhaps Of its hundred forms, some Incl.
dents which point in the direction of tho
great fact, which We believe to be actually
in process IF rcalizatiOny According to
our common conviction, there is a mo.
ment OF time when the man, whom we
have known in his garb of flesh, casts it
aside, actually, SO to speak. before our
eyes, and "this mortal puts on imnlOrtali-
IT," AS in Blanco Whites beautiful
sonnet he is, like Adam, watching his first
sunset, and trembling to lose sight of the
world. and the question to be solved is.
whether darkness has enshroudcd him, or
whether
Hesperus with the host of Heaven came,
And, lOl Creation widened In his view!
and he may have asked himself
Who would have thought such darkness lay con-
ccaled
Within thy beams, o Sun: or deemed,
While flower. aud leaf and insect stood revealed.
That to such countless Orbs thou mad'st us blind!
and life, like light, had been only a dccep.
ton and veil.
We have walked in company with our
brother, pcrchance for years, through the
wilderness of this world" over its arid
plains of toll, and through its sweet val.
lcys of love and pleasure; and then we
have begun to climb the awful Andes
which have always doomed before us at
our journeys end, their SUBMITS against
the sky, and beyond them the undiscov-
cred land. Onward, little before us, as
chance may decide, our companion per-
haps mounts the last ACTIVITY, and We
see him slowly approach the mountains
crown, while our tagging steps yet linger
on the slopes below. Sometimes, ere he
reach the hilltop. he in enveloped in cloud,
and then we see him no more; but again,
sometimes, he remains in the full SUM-
light, and, though distant from US, and
beyond the reach of our voice, it is yet
possible for US 10 watch his attitudes and
motions. Now we see him nearing the
summit. A few steps more and there
must break ON his vision whatever there
may he of the unknown world beyOnd-a
bowling wilderness, or . great Pacific of
joy. Does he seem, as that view bursts on
him-whatsOever it may be-does he seem
to Ike inspired with hope, or cast down
with despair! Do his arms drop In con-
stcrnatiOn, or does he lift them aloft with
ono glad gesture OF rapture, ere he descend
the further slope, and is lost to our sight
forever!
1t appears to me that we may, though
with much diffidencc, answer this question
as regards some Of our comrades in life's
journey, who have gone before US, and of
whom the last glimpse has been one full of
strange, mysterious, but most joyful prom.
Use. Let US inquire into the matter calmly,
making due allowance both for natural
cxaggcration of mourning friends, who
recall the most affecting scenes, and also
for the propable presence Of cerebral
disturbance and spectral illusion at the
moment Of physical dissolution.
OF course, it is quite possible that the
natural law Of death may be that the de.
parted always sink into state of uncon-
sciOusncss, and rather dip beneath Lethe
than leap Rubicon. II is likewise pos.
sible that the faculties 0f disemb0died
time and use, like those of an infant, be-
fore they can be practically employed.
But there is also at least possibility that
consciousness is not always lost, but is
continuous through the passage from ono
life to another, and that Il cxpauds, rath.
or than closes, at the moment when the
bonds of the flesh are beOken, and the
man enters into possession of his higher
powers and vaster faculties symbOlixod
by the beautiful old emblem OF Psychc's
emancipated butterfly quitting the shell
of the chrysaliS. In this latter case there
is certain prjWs (deis presumption that
close observation ought to permit ~ Oc-
ca ,iOnally to obtain some brief glimpse
some glance, though but Of lightning
swiftness and evanescence, revealing par
tiallv this transcendeot change.
In . majority Of deaths the accompany.
ing physical conditions hide from the
spectators whatever Psychological phe-
nOmena may be taking place. The sun
Of our poor human life mosflv sees be-
hind an impcnetrable cloud. Ut Ill forms
oil death the commences seoms IA h the