Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-03-22
@eaaiug fur the Sabbath.
=. CONDUCTED By 80
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
fOriginal.]

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; REV. ROBERT LATHAM
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DEATH. .. ...
There are many subjects in which We all
are Immediately interested, and still we know
but little about them. Death is an event
which, at no distant period in the future,
awaits US ALL No sane man will call this
declaration in question. About death, we are
prone to speculate; but if we lay the Bible
aside, all our reasoning concerning it is but
vague speculation. Some of the ancient phi
losophers said death is the twin brother Of
sleep. Napoleon Bonaparte, if We remember
correctly, said that sleep is suspension OF
those organs or functions of the human body
which are under the control of the will, whilst
death is suspension of those organs or func-
tions which are not under the control Of the
will. srE'! r/t'! 4G{3Ef~.' tfiFli
This definition is correct 50 far as human OBJ
servation extends. In sleep, the FIVE senses
seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and SMELL
ing-are suspended. They have not ceased
to be, but they have ceased, for the time; to
act. The lungs, heart, liver, stomach and &C.
cretions all 60 on discharging their several
Offices in sleep as when We ARE awake, or are
only partially affected. These organs are not
under the control of the will at least not to
the extent that the Eve senses are. We, may
will to shut our eyes and the act is perform.
ed but We cannot will to stop our heart from
beating. It will not, as our eye-lids, obey
our mandates. '-''---'------ ""'---'' -- '
Afteran, we know very little'about death.
We cannot know scarcely anything if we rely
wholly upon our own powers. We may
stand over sick friend and watch, with in
tent anxiety, the process of dying, and when
he has drawn his last breath we haveemade
no discovery. We cannot tell the moment
the vital spark went out, or whittier the spirit
fed. We saw nothing that gave US any sat
isfactory notion of death. EsT
The idea of death, which we get from the
Bible is, that it is separation of the soul
and the body. This idea is confirmed by
what we observe. We do not, because we
cannot, see the soul leave the body but we
see by the great change which takes place,
that the body has been deprived of something
which it once possessed. The limbs become
rigid and a strange coldness settles over the
whole body. Hence the saying "cold as
death" Death changes the couutenance and
sends US away, is the accurate description Of
the scene given in the Bible.
Solemn and important as is the scene which
takes place when the soul and body of hu.
man being are separated, it is far from being
the most important thing connected with that
event. What will now become of the parts
which once constituted the living man ?
Whittier has the soul fled, and what will be-
come of the body? With regard to the body,
we are permitted to speak with good degree
of certainty. fit be the body of some hum
BILE and unhonored peasant, it will be wrapped
up in very coarse clothing, aud after. being
placed in rude coffin, will be deposited, with
little ceremony, in the grave and by the living
be soon forgotten. If, on the contrary, it be
the body of some of earth's great ones, it will
be washed in costly perfumes, clad in princely
robes, decked with rich jewels, placed in a
gilded casket, aud then, with pompous cere-
mony, deposited in the grave and over it will
be erected marble monument.
All this, however, is outside show, or the
want of show. 1t never touches the question,
"What becomes of the body after death ?"
To this in many respects important question,
both the Bible and our own observation give
a positive answer. The Bible declares that
after death the body returns to dust. 1t first
putri6es and then crumbles back to its orlgi'
nal dust. The fat of our God, as revealed to
US concerning our bodies, individually, is:
dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou re-
turn" Gen. 49, We pass through GER
tain stage, or as we say live, then die and
"see corruption" Acts 13 sc. Between the
Bible and our observation there is, on this
point, perfect harmony. Before the last
breath has fled from our bodies, corruption
has commenced. That which was once lovely
and beautiful, now is nothing but a mass of
loathsome corruption. In few years, in
spite of all human skill, corruption will have
obeyed the mandates of Almighty God, and
little dust will alone remain of US. With
some modification in the sentiment, the fol-
lowing lines from Pope might be inscribed
upon all our tomb.stones
"How loved, how valued once, avails thee not,
To whom related, or by whom begot
heap of dust alone remains of thee
'Tis all thou art! And all the PROUD shall be.
If we restrict the meaning of the first three
lines to the body, it is painfully true. We
may walk among the graves of Westminster
Abbey and all that remains of the bodies of
the great men who found burying place
there, is a heap Of dust. So far as human
discernment goes, it may be said concerning
the bodies that for generations have, with
pomp and splendor, been deposited there, they
are no more. With regard to the bodies of
the human family, we can truthfully say,
that after death they rot.
1t is, by all intelligent invlduals, admitted
that the soul is of greater Importance than
the body. Hence, to inquire what will be-
come of our souls after death, is Of more i'm
portance than to inquire what will become of
our bodies. With regard to this aspect of
the subject, we are confined to the revelations
which God has made to US in his Word.
Speculations on this, as on every other similar
subject, may be fattering to our vain con-
ceits, but they are not profitable. We can