Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-08-26

\ now before rs letter nom young mhl
who is clerk an Wsllstreet office, ard
/ a great sdmirer, as he. tells us OF
famed infdel he feels called upon, he
saws, "to disbelieve in future state,
and to deny the existence OF any part oil
man after death" He goes on TO say
that he in curious about one thing, and
he addresses himself 10 us because be
wants in reply "no theological can't but
an answer that plain businessman can
fully comprehend"
He asserts that his failure to secure
any satisfactory answer to this question
was the main reason why he was led to
disbelieve in future state. And he
then asks: "If death ushers Christian
into perfect bliss, why should we weep,
and pas on sackcloth, and break our hearts
over the departure Of our friends? Are
not these tie indisputable signs that we
do not believe in that creed 2" We
think our young friend has failed to in
terpret Alright the signs of grief he has
witnessed. The living in such cases do
not mourn over the fate Of the departed.
II is the anguish OF separation that
fills the eyes and causes the hearsache.
Has he never seen q mother whose boy
was going away to school for but single
term press him again and again 10 her
bosom, and weep as il her heart would
break =? And yet he was not going far
away, and she fully trusted in the hope
that in few weeks he would be restored
to her embrace.
Two friends, let us say as husband and
wife, have become one in love and ten
derest sympathy, and have walked to-
gether with clasped hands for many
decades OF years AT last she slowly
droops aud passes from earth, leaving
him TO finish the journey alone. He has
an undimmed faith that she has gone 70
brighter home, that all tears are forever
wiped from her eyes, and that he will
greet her in Joy and glory when he too
shall answer the summons. But IN the
mean time there has been n sad wrench
at his heart. What though the light
has not wholly gone out of bis home,
and her presence, pictured IN vivid
memories, still seems to ill every DOM
in which she dwelt, he must miss q COM
panionship that nothing left on earth
can well supply. There is no eye that
kindles as he crosses the threshold, no
tender voice that greets him with loving
words, no fond lips that are pressed TO
his when he turns aweary from bis labors
toward that which has been for him the
Chamber Of Peace. He may wear
clothes of sombre hue in difference TO
established custom, but it is not sack
cloth. His heart is not broken, it is
only hungry for something that has
ministered TO daily need. His tears
are not the sign OF wild despair, but
the gracious testimony of an undying
love.
1t is not hopeless sorrow that vets the
sod beneath which the loved ones are
sleeping. II is not pagan philosophy,
as some one has recently charged that
covers the green mound with marble or
raises the granite shaft in memory Of the
departed. These are rather the out
ward testimony OF a sublimer faith. Not
only in the spirit land will souls re-
leased from the earthly surroundings
again greet each other in glad
embrace, but this mortal itself
shall come at last 10 put on minor
tally. The very dust we have watched
over with such tender care shall come
into a new life. The eyes shall kindle
again for us, the lips shall speak well
come in the old familiar tone, the hands
that grew white and dropped lifelessly
from ours shall renew the loving grasp
we have so sorely missed, and the dear
form of the one we have loved, made
more beautiful than ever by the power
that has recalled it from the tomb, shall
be ours for the unending ages.
Tears are not sign of hopeless grief.
If our young friend will turn to touch
ing story he has, perhaps too little read,
he will find q convincing illustration Of
this sweet truth. A brother had died in
family, leaving two surviving sisters to
mourn for his departure. They believed
in future state, for one OF them said,
81 know that he shall rise again, and
yet her eyes were filed with tears.
There came One to that home With
power TO bring back to il in life and health
the brother who had been carried out
and buried. He asked the mourning
group, "Where have We laid him 2" and
went With them to the sepulchre they
had closed. AS he stood before it he
wept Why those falling tears, when he
knew that in few moments He would
call the dead form back to life ? Was 1t
not in tender sympathy. not only for the
sufferings of these.sisters whom He loved,
but for the aching hearts of those who in
all the years should stand by the hiding
tomb, and though filed with the hope Of
a resurrection morning should still strug-
gle in vain 10 keep back the tide OF sor-
row that told how sad was the parting
hour?
vt ia not unmanly to weep, nor is it
unreasonable for those who heartily be-
lieye in a blessed reunion further on, to
feel the pain of present parting. To
let go the hand that has held ours so ten
DERBY. and to walk on alone Through the
intervening years, is common sorrow,
and it argues no want of faith in the
blessed future, that the eyes will often
overflow before the journey is ended.
Many will water their couch with these
tears the liveiong night even when they
know that "ioy cometh in the morning. -"
The hours seem so long aud weary, and
the darkness hides in its depths SO much
that unseals the fountain of grief. But
when the night is over, and the day shall
come that knows no evening shadow and
no setting sun, we shall have done with
tears forever. 1t is blessed hope, and
We commend it to our young friend as a
solace he will need before he ends the
earthly pilgrimage.
what Henry George Thinks OF the