The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1900-12-04

and we see before us the cold face of
the dead, the eye that sparkles no
more, the lips that smile no more, the
hand that lies ,motionless OH the
breast. A day passes away, and a
night, and, when the morning comes,
the grave is ready to receive its vic
tim.
"To it's place deep in the ground,
the precious treasure is lowered; the
clods fall upon it; the mound is raised
above it, and there, as we imagine, n
darkness intense-in silence, si]e nee
unbroken and profound-sleeps alone,
all alone, the loved one of the heart.
"But reason tells us that the grave
holds not within it's earthly wall the
departed one.
"It is only the cast off chrysalis
that we have buried. The butterfly
is off basking in the sunlight Of eternal
summer. Death is only a transition
only a change of place of state-one
Of the natural changes of human exis-
tence, differing only from other
changes in that it is the last of the
series. Death is natural, natural as
life Death is only the removal of
the spirit from the house of mortality,
in which it for a time resided, to a
more glorious habitation, eternal in
the heavens. And think you the
ransomed spirit regrets it's change?
Pines it, think you, for the old delapi-
dated, decomposing wreck of mortal
ity it left behind?
Regrets the winged butterfly it's
cast off chrysalis? Or pines the bird,
as it spreads its wings and flies away
free as air, for the cage from which it
has escaped?
"No, for these are not alone. s
that land to which they have gone are
the saints Of the primitive ages, the
martyrs Of the Roman persecution,
and the reformers of modern times.
There are the old men, who after a
long life Of goodness and greatness,
died full of wisdom; there are the
lovely maidens, who in the beauty
and bloom of life, passed away like a
fairy vision.
"All the good, the gentle, the
lovely, the pure are there-all there.
$50 again we repeat, that our absent
brothers are gone before and we who
admired them after life's fitful dream
will meet them. The mantle of HUI
man suffering and sorrow, they have
laid aside and now wear the robes of
immortality. q.
"Our absent brothers.. With what
ge%ntleness do we recall them at this
hour! Charity throws over them the
mantle that covers their little faults
while love emblazons on the tablets of
our memory the many virtues that en-
deared them to us. Admiration brings
before us the many acts of brotherly
love, the victories they have won, the
obstacles they have overcome and the
many temptations they have COM
batted. We stand with uncovered
head beside their vacant chairs. We
ask that their mistakes and fra lilies
may be covered and that the many
acts that emanated from their lives
making u little world greater and
richer because they had part with us
in unfolding its %granduer, may fill our
lives and make for their brethren
Hull 1ICAtS t1l1G Sud1l OuC1lSc G1llc.
"Our absent brothers. Chapple
stands before me again as once he
stood, with his manly form towering
above and that strong helpful nature,
ready sympathy and heart of love, all
combining to clothe with a seamless,
unspotted, unblemished robe radiant
with beauty and adorned with rich
grace. AS the result of his d~evoting
his time, energies and strength, he
also gave his life
"Our asbent brothers. Reifenrath.
Few young men have gone out from
among us with greater regret. Strong,
robust, vigorous mind, capable of
great things in the future. In his
social character he was generous Of
soul, conciliating in manner, kind of
heart, cheerful in spirit and brotherly
IN all things that made the man.
Amid the dance of society, the roar
of business, the greed for office and
money, we pause beside these vacant
chairs in the stiffness of this place
to recall the form and features of
these whose natures were large
enough to offer the generous hospital
ity of recognition and sympathy to
all sorts and conditions of men, and
who in the battle Of life ever struck
with all their might for the of
the right, the true and the good.
You who knew them best know their
toward their fellow men was
large, unaffected and fervent.
"Will not the beautiful examples of
men who the other day walked at
our side, talked, worked, laughed and
wept with us, bring to our toil-worn
brains and hearts peace this day?
"Let this but be true and no frown
IF discomfort, no scowl of mis-
anthrope, will ever be seen upon our
Drows. for if we write the faults of
our brothers Ill the sands and their