Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1901-09-26
GRAFTON
by Samuel J.
Richie
At the Funeral Of DR..
Sperry. a4
They Had Been Life
Long Friends.
An Eloquent Inquiry Into the
An Eloquent Inquiry Into the
Future.


Sperry, of Tallmadge, to publish the
following Grafton. which was delivered
by Mr.. Samuel j. Ritchie at DR.. Sper.
rvs funeral several weeks ago:
"My Friends and Neighbors: Fol
thirty-five years l have known hin
whose body is now inanimate ant
whose voice is hushed in death. Dur
ing all that time not one single un
kind word, thought, or act has evel
marred the kind relations between hin
and my family and myself. On Sc
veral occasions he has asked me to dc
what 1 feel myself very incompetent
to do, and that was that If sur.
vived him, and were present at his
departure, J. should say word fol-
him to his surviving friends. What
shall / say of one whose. life was
wholly devoted to promoting the wei.
fare and happiness of others without
any hope or desire for reward, and
who cared not for himself. The world
does not appreciate unselfishness. HUI.
manity places wreaths upon the brow
of the conqueror and the tyrant, while
the benefactor Is still made to carry
hAs own cross as He did 10 centuries
ago. He who causes the most tears
to be shed has the largest place in
human history, while he who wipes
them away is accorded but small
space in the annals Of his fellows,
and yet who would not, If he could
write his own epitaph, be proud to
say that humanity was made richer
because he had lived, and made poorer
because he had died. The departed
gladly gave to his fellows all that
nature gave to him. The passing from
the known to the unknown is an oc-
casion upon which silence is the
grandest eloquence. The deepest emo
tions of the human heart cannot be
interpreted in words. Joy and sor-
row are, alike, most effectually ex-
pressed in tears. There is no diver
sity Of tongues in the language of
mirth and tears. The whole human
race can converse in this language Of
happiness and grief Pain still stands
at the portals of birth and the gates
of the tomb. What is there beyond
the tomb? Who can answer? Can
we find any answer in the operations
of the physical world going on around
us. Death and resurrection appear to
De the laws of force and the laws of
the universe. When we look up to
the heavens we see space filled with
thousands of suns, like our own sun.
all sending out light and heat, all
of which Immediately perishes in that
form of energy, and is buried in the
great graveyard of space. What
tomb so great as space? What tomb
so dark as space? What tomb so sill
ent as space? What tomb so cold as
space? What tomb could give so lit.
tie promise of resurrection of the
buried energies Of all the suns of the
universe as space? And vet in this
great graveyard all the light and
heat of all the suns of the universe
are buried only few seconds after
their departure from the mighty orbs
which gave them birth, and, in the
case of our own system, to be only
a few moments later resurrected upon
this earth and producing all that is
beautiful in form and fashion, in
color and fragrance-resurrecte not
only as they died and We're buried
Illuminate and unconscious forces,
but forces taking on the form of ami
mate life, and clothed with conscious
ness of their own existence. What a
wonderful union is this union of con-
sciousness with inanimate forces.
Does consciousness exist outside of
animate life? Who can explain it?
How is it effected? Can It ever be
severed? If not, then there is no
death, only another transition state.
Not a resurrection of the physical
body, which is sown in corruption
but resurrection of that force which
never dies, but takes on new forms,
and lis raised in glory What is
the form of energy which light and
heat take on while passing through
the millions of miles of the cold and
darkness of space? What is this state
of existence between being sown as
a natural body and being raised as
a spiritual body
"If we could conceive of moments
existence in the sun could we believe
that in these flaming elements there
existed the possibilities of body and
mind? If we could conceive of a
existence in the depths of
darkness Of space, could we conceive
Of the possibilities of animated life,
Of consciousness, Of the eternal exis-
tence of forces and the facility with |
which it divests itself of one form
Of energy and puts on another in such |
lnpromising surroundings?
"Whether we could conceive of It |
Or not, the possibilities of life are
here in some form. Separated from
he influences Of another and greater
world than our bwn-the sup--to which