Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-05-17

Lord Oh Life proclaim: "Fear not Il
not your heart be troubled. IN INV Fati
ers mouse are many mansions. T Iiv,
and we shall live also" 'i''
to-day we are again in the nTasonc
Oh death; this awful power. breakin,
men hearts, devastating our homes
ana we remember the strains nf tb
prOphets song: Thou earliest then
away as with flood; they are as asIeeD
Ill tne morning they are like grass whic]
| gfo"eth up; in the evening it ia cn
dOWn and Wlthereth. We snend on
years as tale that is told. Lord. teach
us 10 number our days that we NAV ami,
our hearts unto wisdom"
mere are SO many things in this
| Worid which we cannot understand. ave
are as the philosopher said, .Only chill
dren, standing on the shore of a great
sea, picking up here and there a brilliant
smell OF a polished pebble, while the deen
sea lies beyond our reach, filled with taI
more brilliant things than those we have
Ioohd. How often in after years do we
see all outcome Of beauty aud blessing
lh experiences which, when We first en-,
tered thein, appeared only dark and des-
tructlVe. The old man, sitting in the
quiet OF llfe's evening, sees bright rain
DoWs III the very bosom Of the clouds
no" recedlng, which, when they were
passing over his head, were black with
tempest: ''A'n
~ sweet face of age
In0u lookest out on life full trustingly:
iet t.ou MAST known the darkest mys-
which compass and ensnare the souls Of
men,
For thou regardest all the woes of life
AS Dut the blows which call the statue
forth
From F out the marble; thou has learned
lhat nre consumes the dross, refines the
gold.
And thou has found at last. behind it all
lnnnlte wisdom and wisdom infinite,
I'LL now thou StandeSt face tu face with
God"
We are not living for the present
world only. We are constantly sur
rounded by the influences of higher
spheres. Every flower that blooms, how
ever delicate and fragile, unfolds at the
bidding of another world than that in
which It's roots are planted; every cloud
that floats across the l0vliness of a sum-
mer day is soft aud luminous because
the light OF another world touches its
lnnermOst haze. We are affected hour
by hour by these remote Influences; we
are confronted day by day by the splen-
dor OF the universe. There is no deep
life for any man unless he laws hold. in
thought, imagination and faith, of the
unseen spiritual Universe.
That mysterious experience which we
call death reminds us Of u life that is
spiritual, and points to invisible realms.
AS the days come and go in the customa-
~ course of work and duty and love.
death seems like an awful discord. When
it comes to those who stand near us, it
seems like an inexplicabe interruption
of the order of life; swift and irration-
al interference with work and develop
ment an awful severing Of ties tender
and sensitive and sacred. Looking
at it from the standpoint of the years in
which we live, death is inexplicable; we
cannot make ready for it, nor explain it.
nor reconcile ourselves to it. 1t is ONLY
as we rise out OF the visible into the in
visible order that we can make room for
it and give it place. We often accept it
with submissive faith; we rarely ryscog-
niZe it as passing incident in an un-
broken and endless life.
| have read a poem which thus des-
cribes death: An ancient pilgrim, old,
worn and spent, who crept down shad-
owed vale with bleak mountains on
either side and dark sky overhead. The
pilgrim trOd wearily and feebIy with
bare feet along the rugged path. The
valley ended at length where the naked
rock rose sheer from earth to heaven. as
if to bar his way. At length, however.
he saw a braZen door in the rock and
toward it. read above it's portal:
''The gate of death"
"He could not stay his feet that led
1t yielded to his touch, and passing
through,
He came into world all bright and fair;
Blue was the heavens and balmy was the
air,
And 10! the blood of youth was in his
veins,
And he was clad in robes that held no
OF MS long pilgrimage. Amazed he
turued,
Behold golden door behind him burned
In that fair sunlight, and his wondering
eyes,
Now Iusterful and clear as those new
skies,
Free from the mist of age. of care, or
strife,
Above the portals read: The Gate of
Life"
We have come here to pay, through
our presence and our sympathy with the
bereaved family, a tribute Of love and
esteem to him, who has passed through |
the gate of death; nay. rather The Gate
Of Life A simple wreath OF love and |
appreciation we place on his bier, our |;
tribute to his noble manhood. As SER
want in the state in high official posi-
ton, as a business man. an employer, a |
friend, in all the relationships of live,
he was ever, in the words of Senator
Sposner '"hOnOrable and lOvabie." We
all recognized the beauty of his charact-
er, his gentlencss of spirit, but nowhere