The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-07


ishing how much thinking one can DC
in an hour, and how far the nina can
travel, and how many people can De
brought into review in that short time.
I have heard it said that drowning
man thinks his whole life over While
no is drowning. / don't youch FOL
tbat for | never had a conversation
with any one who was drowned; but.
T did hear a fellow say, who fell OIL
bouse that he thought of more things
while he was falling twenty feet than
he had thought of in twenty years.
Yes the mind is a wonderful travel
or: beats electricity, at its very best;
and it needs no wires nor air waves;
Int with a bound leaps from earth to
sly: or. in a twinkling, sweeps around
the earth and takes a view of, land
and sea. and shakes hands with all
nations, and is at home again, in the
twinkling of an eye; and then, With
out stopping to rest, it swings Off into
the old beaten track of the past and
travels back to childhood, noting as ii
goes. the changes that have occurred.
i'm feeling. thought and purpose be-
tween that childhood period and the
present, or flashes into the future a
raw of light that may enable us to
walk without stumbling, when with
trembling limbs, we are getting nearer
to the end of the journey
I cannot remember all that is be
hind me, CT had rather not remember
some things): but, remember enough
to make me both miserable and nap
py: miserable because SO much OF
sweetness turned to bitterness, and
ihappy because so much of bitterness
became sweetness. Our lives are very
much checkeredc and it is we'll for us
they are. If we had pleasure all the
time. we'd soon forget that we are
diving mortals. and have souls to save;
and if we had sorrow and sadness all
the time we would become dlScour-
aged with life and wish to die.
Paul was allowed, in a trance, to be-
hold the beauties and glories of the
third heaven; land heard unSpeakaple
words which it is not lawful for
man to utter''-an experience which
was so enrapturing that, but for an
affection which befell him he would
have been unfit for the work of life
among mortals. Speaking of 1t he
saws: Lest l should be exalted above
measure through the abundance OF
revelations, there was given to- me a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger OF
Satan, to buffet me, lest l should be
exalted above measure he says ne
besought the Lord thrice that that
thorn, whatever it was, might depart
from him; but, instead of removing
the thorn, God said unto him, MY
grace is sufficient for thee, adding
this explanation, MY strength is made
perfect in weakness" By which we
understand that God can do more
perfect work through a man who is
humble than one who is exalted, as
Paul says, "above measure.
We laugh sometimes, IN thinking
over the past; and then again We can
not keep back the tears. One mo-
ment we are in the midst of mirth, the
sun shining so brightly; then, here
comes a cloud and the sun is obscured,
the lightnings flash, the thunderS roar,
the winds howl and a storm of sorrow
sweeps down upon us. But soon the
sun is shining again, and all is serene
and happy.
How bright were the days of the
home life, when father, mother and
six children constituted a family. 1t
did not seem that anything could mar
our happiness. Our little world had
never, been visited by the angel of
death, nor had any great misfortune
been felt; but there came great Sor-
row, right in the midst of our happiest
period. A brother just entering upon
the practice of medicine, was taken
from us, and one link of that hitherto
happy circle was gone. The sun came
out again and life went on, but there
was an aching void.
The civil war threw it's long
shadow across our sky; but there were
CLEANS of sun shine often seen through
the riffs of the overhanging clouds.
The defeat of our armies, the surren-
der and the reconstruction period
made life almost unbearable for q
while. In the midst of 1T all, the
greatest sorrow came when the loving
a
a great while after, father closed his
eyes in death, and then, after a few
years, the eldest brother followed
mother and father to the spirit land.
But, in the midst of such sore be-
reavements, pleasures frightened up
the pathway of life, and, we have
found it true, that, Gods grace is suf-
ficient, even in the hours of the sorest
Affections.
The most trying period of the war
was Sherman's march through. the
country, robbing, burning and killing.
He said, war is hell" and, of course,
to make his remark true, he resorted
to everything that would aff1ict an al
ready impoverished people or that
would humiliate and goad them to des-
peration. 1t will take century to
efface the memories of those dark
days, along the track of his march;
and, if history does him justice, the
name of Sherman will rank with that
of Nero, in all time to come-a syno-
min for cruelty. | do not suppose
Sherman ever burnt a house, stole a
watch, insulted lady robbed a
hen roost or took the last mouthful
of meat from a poor woman and her
hungry children; but, he sent out his
men to do all those things, and thew
did them, and a thousand other things
equally as bad. In other words, Sher-
man made war on women and child
rem, by raking the country, as if with
fine tooth comb, reducing to state
of beggary the people over whom he
ran. Every neighborhood had it's
stories Of cruelty to relate after the
army had passed, and these stories of
cruelty came mostly from the women
Old Mrs. Mcneil told me that she had
just bought a buggy that she might
be able. to attend church. Sherman's
soldiers came, and finding she had
some nice hams they determined to
take them: and, to carry them off,
they took her new buggy, threw in
the hams with some sacks of corn,
and started off. The old lady protest
ed and pleaded with them not to take
her buggy Rut thew ralv he