Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-02-07

no rule but that Of conscience illuminated
and guided by common sense. She valued
the lessons Of the past, but disowned ira.
dition Is q ground u belief. BY her ex-
ample she vindicatcd the right to think and
act upon conscientious convictions. For
worship Of the unknown she substituted
duty; for prayer, works and the record Of
her life bears testimony to her purity Of
heart, and the beresved ones know but too
ever. II perfect reliance on any particular
belief, whilst standing on the brink Of the
grave and in the hour Of death, were any
proof Of its truth, then In the death Of our
friend the truth and principles Of Rational
ism would be triumphantly established.
One who leads such life ~ our friend has
need have no fear Of death nor what may
possibly follow it. Une who faithfully dis
charges his duty according to the sphere Of
life which he occupies has no need to recoil
at leaving this state of existence. One
breads no aagry being, NO vindictive per-
sonage from whom to expect vengence and
wrath. One 10 perfectly willing to meet
the consequences Of well-spent life. Such
was our departed friend.
II ut death our consciousness, as many
believe, ceases IL our individuality comes
to an end; ii the elements Of which our or
ganization is composed gradually disinte-
CRATE and slowly return to the fountains
and sorces CT nature whence they came if
we gently fall into quiet, peaceful sleep
that knows no waking, we are at least free
from pain, anguish, care and anxiety, and
all Ills that may have real or fancied exis-
tence. II, on the other hand, Is others be-
iicve, 1t is in the economy Of the universe
that We have . continued existence; that
this is not all Of us; that We pass from
comparatively crude state to one more sub
tile and refined, from rudimental, transit
tory life, to one ultimate, permanent and
beautiful, we assuredly have nothing to
fear. II We have q continued existence
there 10 no just grounds for experimenting
that the other life has any more terrors
than this. We will doubtless find the same
Deity that exists here-possessing no more
vindictiveness, no more cruelty, but the
some Kindness and love. We will meet the
same universe with the same powers, the
same forces, the same laws. There can not
be any other; so, whichever belief proves
true, we have little or nothing to fear in the
future. Whichever is correct 1t is all right
with our friend who has departed for that
bourne from which no traveller has ever re-
turned.
The soul immortal Why then doth the mind
Complain OF death? Why not rejoice to find
Herself let loose. and leave this clay behind,
las snakes, whence the circling year returns,
Rejoice to cast their skins, deer. their horns9
ucretiu.
The reward of a useful and virtuous life
is the conviction that our memory will be
cherished by those who come after us, as
we revere the memories Of the great and
good who have gone before. This is the
only immortality Of which we knor-the
immortality of the great ones Of the world,
have benefited their age and race by their
noble deeds, their brilliant thoughts, their
burning words. Their example is over
with us, and their influence hovers around
the haunts of men and stimulates to the
highest and happiest daring. Man has
heaven, too, but not that dreamed Of by
some-far, far away beyond the clouds
but here on the earth, in the heart and by
the Preside, built by right living and self
respect, and by the love and respect of
kindred and friends, and within the reach
of the humblest who work for the good OF
others and the Improvement Of humanity.
As we drop the tear of sympathy and love
at the grave about to close over the once
loved form, may the earth lie lightly on her,
may the flowers blossom over her head, and
may the winds sigh softly as they herald the
coming night. Peace and respect be with
her memory. Farewell, long farewell.