The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1881-11-25

A Western Obituary.

lie IL gone. es, ne is gone, but we
have his obituary. He lived out towards
the rear of western state, and there
also he died. That is enough about him
let us wave him aside; our fight is with
the obituary. ! think it contains rhe.
torical blemishcs. Thus it begins:
"While yet on the threshold of ami
mated strife, and no unkind visions con
fronted him on ifes journey, overtaken
by the still voice of the tomb, he re
sponded by enlisting in the great army
of the unreturning past"
| do not think these ingredients are
mixed properly. If there was a fight,
and the fight was in the house, "thresh-
old goes passably well with "animated
strife" but not otherwise. But do not
think there was fghv at that time; he
did not "enlist' until later, when he was
on n 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 a still
voice.
"While yet the spring time of youth
blossomed on his locks, the cold touch
of an untimely frost fell upon and nipped
life which was yet in bloom"
Now, you see, there was no fight after
all; he froze to death
But thus it is; when the lamp of life
shines brightest its extinguishment pro-
duces thickest darkness"
He had his lantern with him; therefore
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 merciess
sea of eternity, on whose barren coast in
evitable 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
Gre yet the fruits of manhood's lau
rel had ripened on his brow, he laid him
self 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 berry
which it does mott would not ripen
on a persons brow.
ERE yet the shadows Of disappointed
hope darkcned the horizon of dawning
future, he reclined on his lowly couch to
mingle with the cold and forgotten
dust
l do not like this. A person does
not travel with a couch and lantern,
too, in such. place as that Aud why
'cold' dust! Is the warm kind prefera-
BILE? And did this man lie down and
cover up and peter out in the natural
way, after all! There are many perplex-
ing difficulties about this history
During many long years, with that fill
ial affection which makes a child loved
by its parents, and respected by its
neighbors, he has proven husband,
father, son and brother"
Filial affection does not ''prove" any
thing. The official records of the coun-
ty will show whether he was father,
mother, brother and sister or not, but fill
ial affection is no sufficient evidence of
mere abstract pretensions like these.
"For his folks he lived"
That is all right--let that pass; the
object of this inquiry 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 all around, this is one
of the most checkered death beds that
has ever come under my observation.
Destroyed in fight, frost-bitten, starved,
drowned, squelched in the tranquil
couch, splintercd by the bolts of heaven,
it is little wonder that he faded from
our view.
1T 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 bosom Neither
do any but the most reckless people 90
tramping around in snch place.
"But he is gone. He sleeps his long
last sleep, unconscious of the,night winds
that chant the requiem DER his grave,
or the vesper. breezes that play among the
lonesome pine, making music as though
each bough played the strings of
ApollO's golden harp"
Very well, that is all square and right.
And all to his advantage, too, but he
missed his obituary.-Appae@tly by
MARK Tran, in the 1tlontic Monthly,