The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 18??-1882, 1881-12-09
A Western Obituary.

He is gone. Yes, he is gone, but w
have his obituary. He lived out to
wards the rear of Western state, ant
there also he died. That is enough
about him-let us wave him aside; oul
tight is with the obituary. think il
contains rhetorical blemishes. Thus il
begins:
"While yet on the threshold of ami
mated strife, and no unkind visions
confronted him on life's journey, over
taken by the still voice of the tomb, he
responded by enlisting in the great al
my or the unreturning past"
l do not think these ingredients are
mixed lr)perly. If there was a fight,
and the fight was in the house, "tLresh-
old" goes passably well with animated
strife" but not otherwise. But 1 do
not think there was fight at that
time; he did not "enlist" until later,
when he was on journey and was
Overtaken by the still voice of the tomb.
His mistake lay in "responding;" he
could have let on that he did not hear,
since it was still voice.
"While yet the spring-time of youth
blossomed on his locks, the cold touch
of an untimely frost fell upon and nip
ped life which was yet in bloom"
Now, you see, there was no fight, af-
ter all; he froZe to death.
'But thus it is; when the lamp of
life shines brightest its extinguishment
produces thickest darkness"
Ia baI hio Innta,,, ,,y;+l l.
fore he could have been nothing but a
scout, sent out to hunt up the enemy.
| think it possible that there was no
fight.
Life, at best, is but an exiled wan
dering pilgrim on desert island, sur
rounded by the boundless and merci-
less sea OF eternity, on whose barren
coast inevitable death awaits on every
side its victim unawares."
Starved to death on an island, and
probably drowned, into the bargain
"unawares." Life is full of troubles.
''Ere yet the fruits of manhood's lau-
rel had ripened on his brow, he laid
himself to rest in communion with the
dead"
There is no reasonable fault to be
found with his not waiting for the
crop; for even if the laurel yielded a
berry-which it does mott would not
ripen on a persons brow.
ERE yet the shadows of disappoint-
ed hope darkened the horizon of a
dawning future, hereclined OF his low,
ly couch to mingle with the cold and
forgotten DUST
l do not like this. A person does not
travel with couch and lantern, too,
in such place as that. And why
"cold" dust? Is the warm kind pref
erable? And did this man lie down
and cover up and peter out in the nat
ural way, after all? There are many
perplexing difficulties about this his
tory.
"Dnring many long years, with that |
filial affection which makes child low
ed by its parents, and respected by its
neighbors, he has proven a husband,
father, son and brother"
Filial affection does not ''prove' any,
thing. The official records of the |
county will show whether he was a
father, mother. brother and sister or
not, but filial affection is no sufficient
evidence of mere abstract pretensions
like these.
"For his tolls he lived"
That is all right-let that pass; the
object of this injury is what he died for
that, and which thing it was that
killed him the most.
"But now that the thunderbolt of |
heaven has fallen upon the hearthstone
of their family CIRCLE
Why, good land, he was struck by
lightning! Take it ali around, this is |
one of the most checkered death"beds |
that has ever come under my observa-
tion. Destroyed in fight, frost-bitten,
starved, drowned, squelched in the
tranquil couch, splintered by the bolts
OF heavenl-is it little wonder that he |
faded from our view.
at may not, perchance, have been
given him to climb the dizzy heights of |
craftsmanship, where Bacon and Burke |
were so often heard, or fathOm deeply |
the bosom of science, where Huxley and |
Tyndall stroll with familiar STEP"
The nautical phrase is misplaced
there; one does not fathom a bosom.
Neither do any but the most reckless
people go tramping around in such
place.
"But he is gone. He sleeps his long.
last sleep, unconscious of the night
winds that chant the requiem Ger his
grave. or the vesper breezes that play
among the lonesome pine, making mu-
sic as though each bough played the
strings of Apollo's golden harp
Very well, that's all square and
right. And all to his advantage, too,
but he missed his obituary.--Auantic
Monthly.
CURE For EARACHE.-Put about
-.