Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-12-01
WHOLE No. lO,4S9.

Apostle could not extract the thorn in the
ieSh, he received grace sufficient to en-
dure il.
This great sorrow shalt bring forth some
latent virtue; shall develop a mastery for
some besetting sin; shall qualify for some
noble purpose; shall render this life less
frivolous and more spiritual; less attrac-
tive and heaven more real: less human
ana Christ more divine. This great attic
ton should unfold deeper sympathy with
those in like distress and inspire 4 holy
contentment with the allotments of Prov
idence. II should TEACH us to sing with
sweet content this song of our race:
know that when my sky is blacklist.
That somebody's sky is bright:
And that when my day is hcaminc
somebody sits in the night.
know that when the bonds arc bursting.
And golden beams gild the air,
That, while am wrapped in summer,
WINTER is broodlug somewhere.
And to give flowers to my summer.
That somebody's buds must die
And 20 furnish my bower with doves
That somebody's doves must ily.
know, while my loved ones are spared me.
Somebody's loved ones lie low.
And the hand that hath blessed me
Hath dealt some other blow.
know that whcu my being boweth
IN thanks for His nercieS chaSte
That somebody's soul is piniug
For the hounticS which taste.
Thy ways are past understanding.
But Thou art God Of Love.
Aud all that is vague To us here
snail be plain TO rs above.
Evil has its ministry o. yood. Great
thoughts are born of great soss lws. What
must have been the agony of this stricken
father on the night of the day on which
Leland died? II was the hour of his Gcth-
semane Sleep would not come Time
paused in its fight. Hours heightened into
years. Death would have been relief
Reason called for a cessation of excessive
sorrow, but memory would not down: the
Imagination would not be quiet. Love
had been robbed Of her darling. All the
experience of fifty years; all the manly
powers which had been tested so much and
Sooften all the resolves of q will which had
Surmounted all opposition could not COM
fort that manly heart. His soul was sor-
ruwiul even unto death Life was burden
and seemed purFosclesS. He for whom the
father had lived and acquired and planned,
was dead. Hope fled despair came Love
would not be C1mforted, because Leland
was not. Memory added TO that anguish.
'All those places dearest To the dead came
trooping through the mind. Paio Alto,
sweet Palo Alto 10 the departed, came up
with unwonted power. This was the filling
up of the cup. Grief was supreme. Hope
was clean gone He had sounded the last
depth of his grief. 1t was the supreme
moment, but the dawn was nigh. As il an
angel spoke, there flashed across his mind
\ GREAT BENEFIcENT THOUGHT.
On the favoritc Palo Alto there arose before
II o,
all its details, in all its benefits, to untold
generations. 1t hoated like a vision of
beauty through his Imagination. 1t was
Leland whispering to his fathers spirit.
Palo Alto shall be the shrine of learning.
1t shall be Leland's university. Oh, the
relief! Love revived. Hope threw its
radiance over despair. Life was worth liv-
ing. A grand purpose was before him. and
Leland shall not have lived in vain nor
died to be forgotten.
And this darling boy" of yours has
brought life and Immortality to light To us.
He was a spirit sent from God a radiant
messenger from on high to reveal future
life. He was as the voice of one calling us
back to that remarkable truth. We had
forgotten it amid the eXcesSes of pleasure,
the allurements of fame. the excitement of
wealth All our thoughts and plans and
materiahstic spirit of this age had wrought
unbelief in our hearts. Death was an eter-
nal sleep. There was no conscious here
after. Let us eat and be merry, for to
morrow we die But suddenly all is
changed " He whom thou lowest is sick -
yea. dead. He is not here; he Is gone. The
God-inlpanted love for the dead reasscrts
its right to speak, and under oceans and
over continents there is flashed the mes
sage, "Our darling boy went to heaven
this morning.
MESSAGES OF IMMORTALITY.
That was the message ola deathless love,
an immortal hope; a triumphant faith
that rose above the liteleSs form; that
spanned the oycrshadowing gloom with
Gods bow of promise; that declared in
death what had been doubted in life. 1t
was the cry OF parcntage for its ascendcd
offspring to the mansions of the blessed.
1t was the voice of nature crying out for
Immortality; a voice that has been sound
ing down through all the ages, proclaiming
to mankind great hereafter. So said
Solomon "Then shall the spirit return
unto God who gave it," So said st. Paul ;
'' | am in a strait betwiXt two, having 4 de-
sire TO depart and be with Christ SO said
the Master To-day thou shalt be with
me in paradise
Revelation bat voices the deathesS long
ings of thc soul No truth is older than
this. On the oldest monuments of Egypt
on the exhumed temples of Assyria; in the
sacred books Of all religions; in the dreams
of the nOb!est poets; i'll the savings of the
wisest sages, are The visions of eternal life.
And ever and anon voice calls us back to
this grand old truth. Such d voice is neces-
sary We doubt Moses and the prophets.
We deny Christ and the Apostles. We
smile in Ilnbeiiefa at the teachings of pjous
childhood We silence the voice of con-
science, that prophecies future life. We
argue against immortality. We ovcrlay the
thoughts of the hereafter with business
cares We defer the considerations from
youth to manhood and from manhood to
old age. The present, the alt-engrosSing
present absOrbs, and our life-song is, 4"
would live alway."
But suddenly voice calls us from this
oblivion to another life. Some great soul
appears, whose arguments are unanswer-
able; whose illustrations are overwhelm-
ing whose absolute faith is triumphant,
and we seem to stand in the presence of a
new revelation from the unseen world
some great misfortune oyertakes us. From
the palace we descend to the cottage. The
shout of hOsanna gives place to the cry,
Cruelty himw The joyousness and bright
heartedness of health yield to the sighs and
groans of sickness and a broken constitu-
ton. Then in our poverty and disgrace
and illness We sing the old song:
l would not live Away, | ask not to stay
Where storm after storm rises dark o er the way.
The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here
Are enough for lifes woes, full enough for its
cheer
When some dear one is taken from us
amid our fullneSs of human JOY and glory,
leaving us desOlate in the splcndor Of our
wealth, the vigor of our health, the ardor
of our ambition for fame, then the world
recedes; heaven heaves in men; immOr-
tality becomes a fact. God bOrrows the
human voice of that idol of our hearts,
and, us mother follows the cry OF her
child through flood and flame, so we listen
to that voice we loved as it comes from out
the veil.
SPECIAL MISSIONS or MEN.
1t has been the special mission of some to
startle the world from its oblivion of fu-
ture life. This was the mission of Socra-
ties, who said to his judges after the sen
tence had been pronounced, If death is a
removal to another country, and if all the
dead are there, what greater blessing can
there be than this my judges? And if. on
arriving at that place of departed spirits,
relieved from those who pretend to be
Judges, one should find those who are true
Judges, such as Minos, RhadamanthuS,
Hcus, Triptolemus, and such others of
the deIni-gods as were Just during
their liyes-WOuld this he n sad