Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-05-01
HERE IS NO SADNESS here TO- /


to sleep. and we would not wake
the disappointments and discourage
me1ts and tiresome tasks are done,
and We would not rouse them from
their sweet rest.
There is no terror in the grave, for
this narrowest of beds gives compensa-
ton in the profoundest of slumber.
There the sleep is SO deep that it can
not be disturbed by all the -discords
of the earth. The soul that il life is
torn with anguish at the sound of
shrieks Of pain, the sobbing of new
made widows, the cries of babies that
are hungry, the sight of strong men
holding out their brawny arms for.
the work Of the world to do-offering
to give Of their strength of mind and
muscle OF brain and Drawn, for the
keep of those they loYe-and their plea
unanswered; those sounds and sights
that wrench the kindly hearts Of the
living, cannot CRATE upon the eardrums
that have been muffled with the
shroud, can draw no tears from eye
lids that have been closed by the ten
der touch of him whom we call Death.
- y -
Our nineteen brothers who have
lived and gone are Joined now with
the countless millions whe have lived
and gone before They have fulfilled
the law of nature impartially enforced
upon the tiniest insect whose gauzy
wings glitter in the sunshine of mo-
ment, aond the mighty mastoden. For
in man and beast, among flowers and
no nv1l Ill
obtains the unchanging rule, the end
less chain of birth and life and death
and life again ;. The blossoms burst
from out the bud and the full flower
sheds its fragrance round US, but as
we look it shriVels up and dies, but in
the bosom of the air rests a myriad
seeds that the welcoming warm earth
will nurse to life answ; star dust swirl
ing through uncharted skies meets and
Weds and rears q family of planets,
and the infinite clock ticking OF the
passing centuries, sees them crumble
finally into dust again, only to be
eventually recast in the mold Of tedious
time, into other worlds. And man is
subject to this law of nature as is
the mushroom. From out the land
of the Great Mystery comes the Babe,
that most wonderful miracle of all,
with eyes that blink, bewildered at the
hard, material things that crowd his
new environment. and a faint, first
cry that is the sweetest music human
ears can ever hear; soon his pink toes
kick in tglee, his tiny fingers grasp and
hold. and with dawning consciousness
his cheruff face is eWreathed in golden
smiles and his rounded body jumps in
joyous gIee at the approach of his
most AFFECT slaves. his parents. : He
toddlSs through an early morning Of
chiAhood, full Of ioyousness that all
OF cur cfueities cannot repress entire
~. into the glorious morning OF life,
when fancies Lightly turn to thoughts
OF love-" Mated then, We see them, In
the afternoon of life going slowly down
the hill together. their hands clasped
in a comradeship of heart and mind
more noble and enduring than the
flush OF passiOn-slowly down the hill
together, slower, slower, their steps
more faltering as they lean upon each
other, their dimmed eyes exchanging
looks of mutual confidence and content
until they stop at last, fold their tired
hands, and rest forever. Their cycle
is rounded and their destiny is full.
filled, for they have followed the law
OF the flowers and fruits and planets,
and have felt about their lnecks the
chubby arms, and kissed the velvet
cheeks of babies that viii take their
place in the marvellous miracle Of life.
To regret their passing over is but
to envy them their rest, and that is I'M
kindness, the greatest sin. To specu-
late upon the latitude and longitude OF
their home beyond the clouds" is of
less avail than to study their lives and
our won. Let us make Of every pleas
ant word. and kindly act of theirs a