The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1916-01-26
In me|noriam

gave up his life. But as yesterday,
he stood up in the strength of ma
turity, buoyant with hope and prom
Use. Today, his body is returned to
the earth from whence it came, while
his spirit is on that unknown sea that
gives back no sound to mortal ears.
If a man die, shall he live again?
That is the question of Holy Writ.
Before it philosophy is dumb, and
faith but feebly echoes the answer
in the human breast.
A seed planted in the earth must
die before it a spring up into new
life, with new form. Nature sirius
herself of life in the winter, only to
reappear in the spring, brighter and
more beautiful. The sun goes down
amid the shadows of the west, only
to rise more respondent, more glori-
Gus. In science as in nature, anal
ogy teaches that new form, new life,
can come only after disintegration
or death; yet how hard it is to look
with honest faith beyond the cold and
dismal grave! And what wonder?
The Bible plainly teaches that there
is neither marrying nor giving in
marriage, on the other shore. If
this means anything, it means that
there can be no family ties there.
Experience strengthens this inter-
probation, else time would not heal
the broken heart and friendships
would not grow stronger by associa-
ton. Then, when we part with
loved ones on earth, we may see
them again, in all the happiness of
a changed existence, but never more
united by the golden thread of love
that links the hearts of families and
friends.
1 repeat: What. wonder, then, that
the heart is crushed by the severance
of earthly ties?
I recall the sunny days of child
hood, when my brother and l, wan
dered over hill and dale, or angled
in the noisy brook that skirted the
deep woodland in the rear of our
old home; when we fought and
played and romped, until worn out
with the day of %innocen5 pleasure,
we knelt together on a mothers
knee.
l recall those later days, when
childhood matured into young mar
hood and each took on himself the
graver responsibilities of life.
I recall the pleasures and disap-
pointments of maturer years; how
we have borne each others burdens
and shared each others joys. The
ever pleasant smile, the ever genial
greeting; the ever hopeful word;
how the memory of these stir my
soul to its depths, when I recall that
these are earthly ties, sweet memoir
les of by-gone days-now ashes of
the past.
The Master was speaking literally
when he said, referring to the null
titude, "These are my mother and
my brethren" Death broadens the
family circle to take in all mankind.
Few men in their lives fulfill this
broader conception of the brother
mood of man. 1t is something more
than the humble tribute of a brother
who may have been blinded by love,
for me to say that my brother full
filled in large measure, even in life,
this broader conception of the bro
therhood of man.. His kindly heart
made no distinction of poverty or
wealth, caste or class, in its sympa-
thies.
Liberal to a fault, he has had his
own burdens, but they were never So
heavy as to prevent him from re-
spending to the appeals of others
more needy.
Free from malice, always, he could
more literally forgive the malice OF
others.
Doubtless there are those who will
recall some fault or weakness in
his life. To err, is human, and few
men are spotless. AS l go a little
further along life's way, in sorrow
and loneliness, I prefer to think only
of his known virtues, and if they
were not all that might be desired,
l prefer to hope that when he came
to die, and in childlike faith, asked
his God to cover his sins with the
mantle of his love, he heard the
answer from the other shore: Come
unto me, all we that labor and are
heavy laden, and l will give you
rest"
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