Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-04-22

yS
through the heart, the gun carriage
may roll over us, and we may die a
patriots death. But after all. there
are only two styles of departure-the
death of the righteous and of the
wicked and we all want to die the
former.
God grant that when that hour comes
you may be at home. You want the
hand of your kindred in your hand.
You want your children to surround
you. You want the light on your pill
low from eyes that have long reflected
your love- You want the room still.
You do not want any curious strangers
standing around watching you. You
want your kindred from afar to hear
y7sur last prayer. l think that is the
! wish of all of us. But is that all? Can
earthly friends hold us when the bill
| lows of death come up to the girdle?
| Can human voice charm open heavens
gate? Can human hands pilot us
| through the narrows Of death into
| heavens harbor? Can an earthly
friendship shield us from the arrows
of death and in the hour when satan
| shall practice upon us his internal
archery? No, no! Alas, poor soul, if
that is all! Better die in the wilder
ness, far from tree shadow and far
| from fountain, alone, vultures circling
| through the air waiting for our body,
unknown to men and to have no burial |
if only Christ would say through the |
so1itudes, 81 will never leave thee; 1
will never forsake thee From that |
pillow of stone a ladder would soar
heavenward, angels coming and going, !
and across the solitude and the barren
ness would come the sweet notes of |
heavenly minstrelsy.
On Zion Heights.
Gordon Hall, far from home, dying |
in the door of heather temple, said,
''Glory to thee, o Godr' What did dy-
ing Wilberforce say to his wife? "'Come
and sit beside me and let US talk of
heaven. I never knew what happiness
was until | found Christ" What did
dying Hannah More say? "To go to
heaven, think what that is! To go to
Christ, who died that l might live!
Oh, glorious grave! Oh what a glori-
Gus thing it is to die! Oh, the love of
Christ, the love of Christi! What did
Mr.. TOplady, the great hymnmaker,
say in his last hour? "Who can meas
ure the depth of the third heaven? Oh,
the sunshine that fills my soul! [ shall
soon be gone, for surely no one can live
here after such glories as God has
manifested to my SOUL
What did the dying Janeway say? 81
can as easily die as close my eyes or
turn my head in sleep. Before few
hours have passed l shall stand on
Mount Zion with the one hundred and
forty and four thousand and with the
just men made perfect, and we shall
ascribe riches and honor and glory and
majesty and dominion unto God and
the Lamb" DR.. Taylor, condemned to
burn at the stake, on his way thither
broke away from the guardsmen and
went bounding and leaping and jump
ing toward the fire, glad to go to Jesus
and to die for him. Sir Charles Hare
in his last moment had such rapturous
vision that he cried, Upward, upward,
upward!' And so great was the peace
of one Of Christs disciples that he put
his fingers upon the pulse in his wrist
and counted it and observed it's halting
beats until his life had ended here to
begin in heaven. But grander than
that was the testimony of the wornout
tine dungeon he cried: 81 am now ready
to be offered and the time of my de-
parture is at hand! | have fought the
good fight. l have finished my course.
l have kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown Of
righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous judge, will give me in that
day, and not to me only, but to all
them that love his appearing!" Do You
not see that Christ is above all in dying
alterations?
Toward the last hour of our earthly
residence we are speeding. When | see
the spring blossoms scattered l say,
Another season gone forever" When
I close the Bible on Sabbath night, l
say, another Sabbath departed"
When l bury a friend, l say, Another
earthly attraction gone forever" What
nimble feet the years have! The roe
bucks and the lightnings run not so
fast. From decade to decade, from sky
to sky, they go at a bound. There is
place for us, whether marked or not
where you and 1 will sleep the last
sleep, and the men are now living who
will with solemn tread carry US to our
resting place. Brighter than a ban
quoting hall through which the light
feet of the dancers go up and down to
the sound Of trumpeters will be the
sepulcher through whose riffs the holy
light of heaven streameth. God will
watch you. He will send his angels to
guard your sIumbering ground until,
at Christ's behest they shall roll away
the stone.
At the Redeemer's Feet.
So also, Christ is above all in