Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1886-01-14
In Memoriam.

tionately consecrated to the memory OF
our esteemed relative, Mrs. Alice Bell
Stevenson, consort Of of Mr.. William H.
Stevenson, daughter of the late Rev.
Alfred Ii. and Lydia Nelson Mathes, and
neice of the late Judge Thos. A. r. Mel
son, and VIM. G. and Jno. S. Mathes of
Jonesboro.
Mrs. Stevenson was born in Graysburg,
Tenn, and departed this life in Jones
boro, Nov, 18th, 1885, in the 9th year
Of her age, after a painful and protracted
illness.
o, Death, thou art called beautiful,
In the innocent and fair,
And thou contest like a blessing,
On the evenings scented air.
But, Oh, thou art more beautiful
When the youthful christian dies,
And the touch Of angels fingers
Rest upon the mortal eyes.
Such was the beautiful sleep of our be-
loved Bell. Beautiful and calm, she lay,
in her marble whiteness, as a bride
sweetly reposing upon her downy couch,
of snowy whiteness. No trace of suffer
ing was upon her pure white brow. No
tear glistened upon or moistened her fair
cheek, but the same calm, sweet smile
that had lighted up her face, while life,
and animation beamed from her counter
ance was beautified by the mystic touch
of Death. But, the mysterious messen-
ger came not to her with terror upon his
wing. So softly, so calmly, his noiseless
footsteps were heard; so gently, so sweet
ly he laid his paid hand upon her brow;
so beautifully he drew the mortal veil
aside and pointed to a pure celestial city,
whose beautiful gates stood ajar, and a
beauteous river, whose pure crystal
streams forever make it glad; 80 sweetly
he whispered Of rest, and of an angel
! choir, in whose melodious anthems
mingled the loved voices OF loved ones
gone before, that the weary sufferer well
coined his approach.
Though we feel that our pen is made
quate to the tribute our heart would pay,
to a memory so beautiful and a death so
triumphant, yet it is a sweet, sad pleasure
to review the "reminiscences so wildly
connected with them. In the RETROSPECT
ton of the beautiful life-page before us
are many chequered scenes, and mean
dering changes. Though brief, like the
short lived, fragile flower, this life.page
i~s.chequered with sunshine and shadow.
Among all of the beautiful pictures that
hang upon our memory's WALL" is one
We see when looking back through the
dim vista of years. All, yes, the beauti,
full days Of youth, that now slumber in
the silent cradle of the past point to a
beautiful home. Around the Joyous
%hearthstone, the family circle gather.
Two idolized. little bright,eyed girls,
with sunny brows and silken ringlets,
make the golden links in that family
chain. A most devoted mother bends
DER them with fond delight and teaches
them to softly lisp their evening prayer.
Kneeling beside them, o how ~fervently
she breathes a prayer for them, and asks
to be permitted to guide their little
childish feet along the thorny paths of
life. The reverent, yearning father bows
and pleads with the Tender Shepherd to
take them into his gentle fold, and he
too, asks to be spared to his little treasures,
to give them his gentle care and fatherly
protection. The years glide rapidly by, and
amid their rushing tide, the beautiful
homeis borne away. The loving mothers
sweet affection is gone. Her face is
banished, her loving voice is heard no
more, and the gentle hands that had
guided the little hayward feet lie peace
fully folded across a silent bosom. In
a far, far southern cline, the broken,
hearted father, with bis little orphans,
repairs, and in the land of sun and
flowers, strives to forget his grief and the
beautiful home with its brightest light
that had faded from him forever. In the
Flowery Land he erects another home
beautifully adorned with wreaths of the
myrtle and magnolia training around it.
For a time the soft, genial rays of this
sunny land. with its wealth Of fragrant
flowers, and soft, balmy sea breezes,
restored his wonted vig0y. But, ali, the
same mysterious messenger that blighted
his early home, entered his chamber and
his revereIt voice was heard nj more up
on earth, and the weeping orphans were
in a land of beauty, but where no sympa-
thetic tear for them was shed and no
kindred heart appreciated their SORROWS.
Childhood, with its freshness and beauty,
had vanished, and too deeply they realiz-
ed their irreparable losses and deepest of
all earthly sorrows. They returned to
the land that gave them birth, but, all,
how changed Though young, yet, how
long the sad time seemed since they had
heard their mothers gentle voice. But
it seems that change was indellibly writ
ten upon their life.scroll. Two bridal
scenes, where VOWS were plighted that
would cause their paths to diverge, and
they drift apart forever.
Such was the short, but ~chequered
career Of our beloved relative. But, de.
spite her losses and bereavements, she
possessed a sunny, joyous disposition,
and ever endeavored to catch the sun.
beams, and ignore the shadows that fell
| upOn her nath through life She was