The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-10-02


while the heart is warm. The tear
falls as the sod is edged with myrtle
or fringed with immortelles; but pathos
often dies under the blows of the NAL
let, and sorrow is chilled by the cold
ness Of the marble and the hardness of
the granite. There is poetry in flow
ers, but only prose in sculptured stone;
the former express refined feelings, the
latter may only reveal politeness the
one is within the reach of the poor, the
other only of the rich. These wreathed
mounds send out voice sweeter than
song. They bring back messages from
that other shore, telling of rest and
growth and love. They hide the errors,
cover the defects and make redolent
the virtues. So this custom of entwin-
ing the casket with natures beauties,
and adorning the grave with the rarest
charms of earth, has deep seated ped
igree, and tells of undying love. l
fOrcibly felt this when in Cairo, Egypt,
as pilgrim, like myself, in that strange
city, sickened and crossed the river"
and as her lifeless form was being borne
out Of the hotel, the flooring of the stair
ways and halls was completely covered
with rOsebuds and sprigs of cassia and
this was done by the proprietor and his
family, who had no acquaintance with
the one that had hastened on into
1.-THE beautiful light" This seemed to
brighten the dark way to the tomb,
causing the sorely stricken in heart to
feel that since the Lord works so kindly
through the living here, he must work
all the more through the living, when
there is no more dying, that they may
love US into heaven.
AS wandered in one yard, came to
q plain triangular shaft, some ten feet
high, with the simple inscription,
"Fichte," and under it
"The teachers shall shine
As the brightness of the firmament;
AS the stars forever and ever"
This is enough, for he was great, and
is great still. Goethe called him lone
of the most vigorous personalities that
was ever seen. From obscure life he
gradually ascended into the realm of
philosophy and profound scholarship.
By the exercise of his own ideality he
created world of great thoughts and
purposes in which he lived, and so
wrought, in spite of the tumult of his
own time, as to become renowned in
his adopted city, and famous through
out the world. His thought still heaves
the heart of Germany, and his word is
one of the forces to help mold the world.
To him the ideal was infinitely more
than the real. His philosophy is based
ON the idea that the soul is, and there
fore because of its being, other objects
are made to exist. In his system the
idea of duty is a creative principle.
Beings exist because we have duties
toward them. He makes moral obliga-
tion the central fact Of moral agents.
Through his teachings in the Univer-
sity and public ways, his name was
made to blossom out into a brilliant
reputation, crowning him at the time
of his translation as the second great
philosopher of Germany. Though dis
embodied his individuality still sur
wives. While the grave holds his dust,
the world holds his life. AS the ivy
grows green out of his ashes, so thoughts
spring afresh from his mental sowing.
He was tabernacled in the flesh that
through the resurrection he might be
seen as Fichte in heaven.
Only short distance from Fichte's
grave is that of Hegel, marked by
plain granite monument, some five feet
in height. Its simplicity is becoming
the character of the man. To him mat
ter was subordinate to mind, and never
should be treated by monumental dis
play, as though superior. With him
the only absolute substance was spirit,
and this was created for development.
He taught that its life here is a series of
evolutions, that it must struggle up
through matter to be free, and that this
is accomplished through the aids of
religion, art, and philosophy. He be-
lieved that the substance of matter is
weight, and so gravitates to the earth,
while the essence of spirit is freedom
the former has being out of itself, and
the latter with itself the body dies,
but the soul lives. He aimed to show
that spirit could not rest until it had
gained complete mastery over the flesh,
that it would not, could not be abso-
lutely free, till it should always will for
the right and do for the right. If he
was a follower of Fichte, and a disciple
of Schilling, he so thought and so
wrought, as to have philosophy pecu-
liar to himself. He so lived as to write
his name deep in the sands of earth,
and high on the scroll of Immortality
This name is spoken with reverence as
a man, teacher, and philosopher. AS
we stand by his grave, we cannot easily
think of him as dead, but as ascended