Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1877-01-03
CLARIFIED, Pa, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, IS7

v no more hinched from uttering unpol
u ular, than worthy thoughts. Pericl'
In his last illness said; mo Athena
o in consequence Of any action of min
Q had ever put on mourning" Mr. Kei
r could truthfully say the same in be
ter sense.
) When went at his request to Vii
:. ginia and to his bedside, and after d,
u .ivering the messages from his friend
I here, asked him if he were ready {
meet the unseen world with glanc
Of gentleness, and pressure Of m,
hand, be declared that he was ready
We talked Of the mysterious realm
: His faith was abiding that in that iu
ture there was reward for Just lit
here. As he said, half playfully, b
stood upon his record.
1t was this pious probity which b.
impressed upon his people, upon Con
+. gress, upon his own life, and upon BIZ
son.. II bad its source in the heart a
well as the head. This is especial,
: observable in the care which be gav,
TO bis sons tuition, even TO the las
hours Of his life. He seldom left hi,
house on bis return from his Office. A,
has been so well said by his colleague
Mr. Hamilton] who offered these res
olutions, he scarcely mingled with the
masses Of the people, even his own con
stituents, but with kind cbeerfulness
was wont to retire to his homo and H.
brary. There he studied his favorite
authors, examined his son in the stud.
loo tho DAY, aud filled filed UP cath no hour
with some useful thought or exercise.
The speech Of Plato to the Athenans
he expressed in his life "For the glo.
ry OF parents is an excellent and an
honorable treasure 10 their children,
making up for the lack OF possessions
and dignities." "Dos est magma pdren.
tium rirfus." (Hor. Cd, xiv, lib. 81
May | not read from tho Chicago
Times the record of his last advice to
hls son to illustrate the paternal care
and gentle worth of this our best rep.
resntative man?
A few days before his death Mr. Kerr had
conversation with his son, 10 the course Of which
he said 81 have nothing to leave you, my soA,
except my good name. Guard IL and your
mothers honor. and live as hare lived" fie
further said; "Pay all my debts IL my estate will
warrant u without leaving your mother peuniIess
otherwise pay what Jeu eau, and then 20 to my
creditors and tell them the truth and pledge your
hnn Ia rtt.a. astus 4 ~. ~
The source of this mans power was
not altogether intellectual il was in
the affections. What void has been
made in his western home
Who can tell the anguish Of the be.
rcavcd Even the delights of the old
home in the West intensified It. "She
was at home" writes the bercaved son
ofthe widowed mother, "amongfncnds !;
but she could not feel at home, for he
was not there. Everything suggested
father to her. Something would re-
quicken her sorrow. The finding of
an old letter, the aalfread book with
the mark Of leaving off, and all those
thousand evcrrecurring inconsidera-
BILE reminders that keep the heart Of
sorrow painfully darkened by the
shadow Of him who has gone these
things heightened out and intensified
the grief till the burden became too
hard 10 bear" For such human agony
there is no compensation in the honors
and prcfermcnts of our life. The cur
rent Of domestic bliss which once flow.
ed so calmly, rejecting the very heav.
ems on its mirrored bosom, when thus
vershaddowcd-w whercis is the ADEQUATE
return in the plandits and honors of
mon? Towait and wish, and to hear
no step, no voice Of husband and father
the olden aid which directed, support.
ed, and comiorted, gone gone no ad
vent TO gloriiy the gloom-this is to
the overworn and wearied watcher
what mere mechanism of tongue or
pen cannot express Expression only |
benumbs the soul OF such grivfs as
these. Our tears freeze at the foun.
tain, onr sympathies die in tho at.
tempt to express them.
History and oratory have been spent
in haranguing about the heroes of war.
Military genius and renown have been
themes OF encomium to quicken patri.
otism and endear private virtues. In
the funeral orations over the dead
Greeks who fell in fight, Mars alone
received apotheosis We have orations
by Pcricles, Lysias, and Plato preserv.
ed in the crystal beauty of rhucydides.
All the muses. and graccs do obeisance
to the solemn rapture OF the eloquent
hour when in graceful periods and i'm
perishable language the orator came
forth from the monument, ascended
the tribunal, and, with panegyric be.
yond the reach OF modern art, display.
ed the virtues of the dead But these
eulogies were in praise only of martial
glory. Only once do | recall the words
oi an inspired Greek, forgetting for
the custom of the time, ad.
tho people that thh whole
,arth was the sepulchre of renowned
nen," whether renowned Tor honora. I
bic exertion in war or peace. II is the
Did vaunting story of the Bible even
Saul has slain his thousands, but Da- {
I'D his tens OF thousands The hel. .
net, the plume, the spear, the sword, '
he onstt-these are the themes of I
II classic funeral eloquence. Men are
'rone to forget what has been done by o
he gifted and great whose associations I
we're those OF art literature, bencvo- !
encc, and science. We seldom remem. 9
'cr long those whose lives were round. b
ID with the humility of good deeds and 5
,cntlc affections. Men rear monu. I
nents and arches TO the captains OF |
rmies, rarely TO the leaders Of opinion. I
Few mounds Of green turf remain TO I
ccall the great thoughts which lived {
u the heroic lives of such men as i
'lato, Newton, st. Xavier, Howard, c
r Golden. Monuments to military 7
,en ovcrshadow these little billoclss |
n whose breast tears fall, and over .
those dust blossoms cllster Rome I
as her arch to Titus, her column Of I
'njan. The grave of Agamemnon a
as been found and glorifcd BY a Cor J
ian scholar; and the cxhumed Atridm i
more honored by cmpcrors and u
ings than the blind bard who sung h
heir praises along the AEGEAN. a
But, thanks to better civilization, 4
ven the successfulness general to-day n