Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-02-16

heaven, and heaven had never hailed
any other world. think that the win.
dOws ana the balconies are thronged.
and that the pearly beach was crowded
with those who had come to see him
sail out of the harbor of light into the
oceans beyond. Out and out and out, and
on and on and on. and down and down
and down he sped, until one night,
with only one to greet him, he arrived.
His Decentralization so unpretending,
so quiet that it was not known on
| earth until the excitement in the cloud
gave inIimation that something grand
and glorious had happened. Who comes
there? From what port did He sail!
Why was this the place of His destina-
ton? | question the shepherds.
question the camel drivers, / question
the angels. | have found out. He was
an exile. But the world has had plenty
of exiles. Abraham, an exile from Ur
of the Chaldees; John, an exile from
Ephesus: Kosciusko, an exile from
Poland; Mazzini, an exile from Rome;
Emmett, an exile from Ireland; Victor
Hugo, an exile from France; Kossuth,
an exile from Hungary. But this one
OF whom | speak today had such re-
sounding farewell and came into such
| chilling receptlon-for not even an
hostler went out with his lantern to
| help him in-that He is more to be cele-
| brated than any other expatriated one
of earth or heaven.
At our best estate we are only pill
grims and strangers here. Heaven is
| our home" Death will never knock
at the door of that mansion, and in all
| that country there is not a single grave.
How glad parents are in holiday time
to gather their children home again!
But | have noticed that almost always
there is a son or daughter absent-ab-
sent from home. perhaps absent from
the country, perhaps absent from the
world. Oh, how glad our heavenly Fa-
| Their will be when He gets all His chill
| dren home with Him in heaven! And
how delightful it will be for brothers
and sisters to meet after long separa-
ton! Once they parted at the door OF
the tomb; now they meet at the door
| of Immortality. Once they saw only
through a glass, darkly; now it Is
| face to face corruption, incOrrup.
| ton; mortality, Immortality. Where
are now all their sins and SORROWS and
! troubles? Overwhelmed in the Red Sea
of death while they passed through
| dryshod.
| Gates of pearl, capstOnes of anne
thyst, thrones of dominion do not stir
| my soul so much as the thought OF
home Once there, let earthly sorrows
| howl like storms and roll like seas.
! Home. Let thrones rot and empires
wither Home. Let the world die in
an earthquake struggle and be buried
! amid procession Of planets and dirge OF
spheres. Home. Let everlasting ages
roll in irresistible sweep. Home! No
sorrow, no crying. No tears. No
death But home, sweet home; home.
! beautiful home, everlasting home, home
with each other, home with angels,
home with God.
| One night. lying on my lounge. when
| very tired my children all around
about me in full romp and hilarity and
laughter-on the lounge, half awake
and half asleep, l dreamed this dream:
| / was in far country. 1t was not
Persia, although more than Oriental
| iuxuriance crowned the cities. 1t was
not the tropics, although more than
| tropical fruitfulness filled the gardens.
1t was not Italy, although more than
| Italian softness filled the air. And
wandered around looking for thorns
| and nettles, but 1 found that none of
| them grew there, and l saw the sun
rise, and | watched to see it set,
but it sank not. And l saw the
people in holiday attire, and l said:
When will they put off this and put
on workmens garb and again delve in
| the mine or swelter at the fOrge?" But
they never put off their holiday attire.
| And / wandered in the suburbs OF the
| city to find the place where the dead
| sleep, and / looked all along the line
OF the beautiful hills, the place where
| the dead might most blissfuiiy sleep.
! and | saw towers and castles. but not
| a mausoleum or a monument or white
| slab could l see. And l went into the
| chapel of the great town and l said:
Where do the poor worship and where
are the hard benches on which they
| sit?" And the answer was made me:
I'VE have n poor in this country"
| And then I wandered out to find the
| novels of the destitute, and | found
mansions of amber and ivory and gold,
but not tear could l see, not sigh
could hear, and was bewildered and
| | sat down under the branches of a
| great tree and said; Where am L?
And whence comes all this scene?"
| And then out from among the leaves,
and up the flowery paths, and across
the bright streams there came a beau
tiful group, thronging all about me,
and as | saw them come | thought
knew their step, and AS they shouted
| thought knew their voices; but then
they were so gloriously arrayed in ap-
parel. such as | had never before wit
messed, that | bowed as stranger to
stranger. But when they again
clapped their hands and shouted, well
come. welcome" the mystery all van