New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1877-01-14
Letter from n Father 70 his Daughter on
lhe Death Of his Sen.

Il
Resident Physician.
Letter from Il Father 70 his Daughter or
/ ihe Death Of his SEN.
HOMER, La, December %, 1876.
| Ny Darling Daughter Lily Vale:
My heart has yearned for you, my dear
and blessed child, in this our day of attic
ton. Amid our inexpressible sorrow and
| grief for dear and noble Scion, my heart
has constantly bled with double and in
creased agony for you and dear mother and
others OF the family whose very souls have
i thus been bowed down and crushed. But
in upon this almost impenetrable gloom has
| cleaned one ray of glsdness--One ray of
! earthly c0nsolaiiOn-the knowledge that
/ Rome of the family were with poor dear
4 Scion, TO afford him the consciousness that
he was not passing his last hours alone
among strangers, and to see that he was
/ properly taken care of after death, aud
| be6ttingly prepared for the tomb; that
| you, his dear and affectionate sister, and
| poor little Lycurgus, his fondIy doting
| brother, were present with him, TO look in
person upon his cold, manly face, and prees
a last tender but ferveDt kiss upon his
blessed truthful lips-lips that never uttered
q falsehoOd. Yes, verify, I specially thank
4 God for this c0neOlation; but, o my dear
sweet child, you may well imagine the
/ agony Of our hearts when we heard that
our dear and generOus-hearted Scion was
| dead Yes, when on Sunday night, the sew
| enteenth instant, ut our humble tireside, we
received the dispatch from your kind and
thoughtful husband, that on that evening,
/ at about five o'olOck-the quiet and holy
Sabbath evening-our blessed and beloved
| Scion had passed away from us forever, o !
| merciful God, how our poor hearts bled and
| gonizedl-agonized!- agonizedl and still
bleed and agonize, and must continue to
bleed and mourn while this poor life shall
last
You know how dear mother and / have
watched and waited and prayed for poor,
| manly and kind hearted Scion, and tried
in every conceivable way to make him
comfortable, oOntented and happy, and
how you and all his dear sisters and broth
ers loved and dotted and conferred their
hopes upon him, and how fervent and gen
erOus were his love and affection for us
all-how manly and brave was his noble
heart, and how pure and totally unselhsh
were his generous sympathies and tender
loves; and yet he lie gone now, and we can
but weep-can but weep land hope to meet
him in the great hereafter, where all these
troubles and heartachea and sore afflic-
tions and bereavements shall not only have
passed away, but shall never RETURN
thank God! shall never return. Yes, we
can but weep now, and hope and pray to
God that as our dear and beloved Scion is
free from temptation, he is also forever
safe from all harm, and from all pain and
sorrow. And indeed feel in my very heart
and conscience before the living God that
can say that know that our darling Scion
is safe and happy now. And why mott
God is not only Just but mereiful. His Iowa
and mercy endureth for ever-His justice is
ever tempered with love and mercy. Then
why should such God punish the released
soul of sueh o man rs Scion Blackburn
Aasa1 n
noble heart, or aspirations and impulses
more high and ehivalrous. His heart never
harbored an evil design nor his soul an I'M
manly thought The God of Nature had
implanted in him the impulses and Dictates
of the true gentleman so deeply and indeli.
bly, that all the blighting and oorroding
touches of time could never have eradicated
them. His God-given nature was simply
that of generosity and love, and q manly
defiance Of fear and pain.
And these thoughts and hopes, my darling
daughter, will recall what the sweetest Of
American poets has said;
oh, If there is ore law above the rest
Written in reRsOn-if there Is q word
That would trace as with pen Of IRE
Upon the unaanned temper Of q child
II there is nytning that keeps the mind
open to angel visits. and repels
The ministry of III tits human love
tod has made nothing worthy Of contempt
Has its peculiar meaning, and will stand
When mans best monuments have passed away.
Tbs law Of heaven ie Love and though its name
Has been usuIped BY passion, aud profanso
Te its unhoiy nses through al time,
Still, the eternal principle is pure;
And In these deep affections that we feel
01nniPoteent within ns We bat see
The lavish measure IN which love is giveni
And in the yeaFning tenderness Of child
For every bird that sings abo re hiL head
And every creature FEEDING on the hills,
And every tres. and h3wer, and running brook
We see how eyerYthiog was made TO love;
And how they err who, in a world like this,
Pind anything to hate but human pride p
And no one loved more devotdly and with
more siDglenesa of heart than did cur dear
Solon-loved al chat was at all worthy of
human love, end he was as devoid Of 'ahu-
man PRIDE" and of everything like vanity
and selfshness, as the mild and kissing
sunbeam or tho gentle and soothing zephyr
las the pure and confding whisper Of the
very essence of love itself. Then why
should he be punished hereafter-refuaed
happy admission into the land of God and
angels, where the very Flaw" Of all is loyes
He will not be His noble soul and manly
impulses we're and are worthy to be beloved
OF God, and by all hearts of earth that are
manly. nnselhsh, Or gentle-and shall for
Bat why should say these thinga 10
you, his dear and sffeetionate sister, who
loved him 90 devotedly, and who SO well
knew and so eensibly appreciated all bis
noble and manly trniteg You knew him but
70 love hiu--as all who knew him beat loved
him most; and you, and all the true hearts
who eyef knew him, will bear witness with
bis old stricken sud afflicted father that
Ell bic passing foihles and weaknesses Of
The heeh were but as scattering feathers to
the solid and enduring weight Of his manly,
inherent, God given virtues--his Unborn
purity Of heart and his native nobility Of
soul. Yea, thank God the members OF his
own immediate household know all these
fhtnnE fns1 halt AZ =
departed eolon--kneW them better chan
any Of the outside world, even his most
intimate friends, could ever have known
them. And God knew them, and will not
forget nor fail to reward
And 90, my dear sweet daughter, Ia God
fondly trust, and il His all-snf6oient and
most tender care must we leave onr blessed.
our beloved, our generous, Smpnlsive. civ,
alrous, brave and pure-hearted Solon-God
bless him
And you may think strange that did
not have his sacred remains BROUGHT bank
p HameE 70 be bukied. ! did not know how
long we might wish or Be able to live here,
ena eoHla not bear tbe Thought Of ever
leAYlng poor dear Scion buried here alone
where We had al lived with him 70 long IN /
the $40 ana glad yee1s Of the past And
then there Was s rough and rugged road % /
elAtf.ure ~ eeqenty miles ii the way Of /
reaching Homer lfom New Oeleane- But /
bis dear brother Charlie ID permanently 10. {
cAfed q ho1<i AaAqrsa1. point that could /
Be easily rescued u railroad FROM Nov i
4rleAas, and Thought fha1 could our poor 1
ae@e Scion speak 30 would moet likely IS. /
less that locality 1s Bis Lass resting place,
4Mq1H AZ 7Ae green spglz 81 earth "a fhe /
41EJ t4efeu1e and under the EatebtFf care /
sn1 raIna5l tears Of his 4eaf sud mach I
1oiet4 tIsl4s1 and wHsF his 4aeF
1qotttf4 tIee911 iilae children. whom he /
Oval A. s14I.IlIi rn.If- alIaa nrI #a1En A4r.r