Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-02-23

l Huitc ~ StNtuS DI foSlCdi ufSumcutS 10
prove that death doth end ALL" We
! may have read many works OF a Vol
taire. Hume, Bolingbrol,e, a Glib
bon or a Paine. We may have even
argued ourselves into believing that we
were right and that when q man died
he simply died and that was the end of
him. But some few years ago we had
all our humiliation theories Knocked
endwise. This was the way it happen
ed: Death came to you, not as an un-
known quantity, but In a terrible form
1t came and knocked at your door and
said: open! I want that mother.
want your sister. want your wife.
want your child" And as Death walk
ell away with your dear one you called
out. Lob. Death, Is my darling child
dead forever And away of In the
distance you could hear your dear enc
call back: II am not dead. / am iiv-
ing again. Befleve me. am living
again" Is not thai. statement true =
Deep down tE yopr hsart do you not
feel thst the sslttt OF your loved ones
are alive today though their bodies a re
moldering In the 4rave.
Oh. how quitkk tie sudden appear.
ance OF death cln SKATER the conciu-
sions we have Built up by years OF
painful fhsorizihat I had this fact H.
Illustrated IN aaremarkable way some
years ago when I was visiting the Gre
matory of Pittsburg. In which city I
was living ct that time. 1 was taken
into vaulted room where quite n
number of tin cans, each about the size
or q two quart pail, were standing
around on shelves. Each one of these
tin cans contained the ashes of n hui
man being. Some had more ashes I'm
Them than others. The older a man IS
the more his cartilages ossify and
therefore the more incombustible ma
terial there Is left In the retort of the
crematory. Here are the ashes of
George w. Ferris Of the Ferris wheel
OF the Chicago Worlds fair. who died
only few months ago." said my guide.
Yes, yesr' l answered. at knew OF
him. lie had been In my church Of
ten" And here are the ashes of Mr..
So-and-so. and these belong to the child
or So-and-so," mentioning names which
were household words in the western
part OF Pennsylvania. Then my guide
gave me one OF the most dramatic nc
counts have ever heard. He describ-
ed Emma Abbott. the great American
songstress, descending the same steps
descended and standing Just where
was standing. After she had care
fully examined the crematory she said.
Some day I am coming here to be
turned into ashes" Then she slightly
raised her skirts and began to dance
around the room. and as she danced
she sang. and she kept on singing I'M
I'll she sang herself out OF the door.
And within twelve months" said the
man, "her dead body was brought here
and committed TO the flames. Yes. her
body was burned in yonder furnace"
Believed In IL Only In Theory.
After my guide had been speaking
thus to me for over an hour i said to
him: do you believe In cremation I?
What Is your own private opinion in
reference to it?" He stopped q mo-
ment. and then he slowly said: At be-
live In it In theory. But theories, no
matter how well formed, do not always
work out In n practical result. For
years l have been preaching the bene.
nts or cremation. But last year my
Daby girl died. She was my ONLY
child. She was the idol OF her mother
and myself. The day after our little
one had gone the mother came 10 me
and said. Husband. shall we cremate
herT said: No. Mary. No. We
cannot burn her up. = Her body was
too dear TO us. Let us go and bury
her among the flowers" Yes. our
beautiful theories and the hard prac.
liabilities of life are often rs far
away from each other as the zenith IS
nigh above the nadir. You may have
argued FOR spiritual humiliation Mt
the grave. but as soon as God took
your dear ones You Knew they did not
die mad are not dead now. And with
In you today. in spite of all that athe-
lists and skeptlcs may say, something
keeps singipg:o 81 shall. liyei L shall
nves '9hail i've long after this earth
Is esematsd! Z shall I'VE as my dear
ones whose bodies are sleeping In the
grave. are living nowi'' All. my
nienda DO not bet sin come Offering to
| You me unpaf6tabI hrsk OF annihiIa-
ton AZ the gfave! Let not sin again
say Come. let as eat, drink and be
merry. for tomorrow we die" We
know, we tntuitively know, that we
shall never, never die. < -,
A step further When Satan cannot
lure US into dissipation by the doctrine
or humiliation at the grave the old
Eend takes another course He comes
TO US and says: You are going to live.
! oh, yes; you are going to live ages up
on ages, millennIums upon mlllenni-
sums. That, of course, means that there
Is God and that this God has provid-
ell place for your eternal existence.
But this does not alter the fact that
you can eat, drink and be merry and
do as you would. Why? Because the
very name OF God implies that he is a
good Deity. This good God will save us
all. Therefore IL you have little fun
here on earth that will not prevent you
from enjoying all the blessings of heav-
en- hereafter. II you sow a few wild
oats here you will be like the younger
boy In the parable Of the prodigal SON.
You will go of into the Ear country.
You will laugh and dance and sing and
drink and make merry. And after you
have spent your all and had superfine
time on earth you Can go back to your
fathers house. and he Will put the ring
upon your finger ana shoes on. your feet
and the best robe on your back and kill
for you the fatted calf Don't you see,
you have all the pleasure OF the ban
quet hall Of Circe's palace. with none
of the horrors Of the swine trough into
which Ulysses followers were COM
PEELED to go" Now. my friends, this
second Satanic argument to me Is far