Oh, weep not then, though cruel Time To every link, in yonder clime, Oh, fall they not on mortal ear To soothe the breast, or start the tear- Examples of the Dead. ANDREWS NORTON. THE relations between man and man cease not with life. The dead leave behind them their memory, their example, and the effects of their actions. Their influence still abides with us; their names and characters dwell in our thoughts and hearts; we live and commune with them in their writings; we enjoy the benefit of our labors. Our institutions have been founded by them; we are surrounded by the works of the dead; our knowledge and our arts are the fruit of their toil; our minds have been formed by their instructions; we are most intimately connected with them by a thousand dependencies. Those whom we have loved in life are still objects of our deepest and holiest EXAMPLES OF THE DEAD. 233 affections; their power over us remains; they are with us in our solitary walks; and their voices speak to our hearts in the silence of midnight; their image is impressed upon our dearest recollections and our most sacred hopes; they form an essential part of our treasure laid up in heaven; for, above all, we are separated from them but for a little time. We are soon to be united with them; if we follow in the path of those we have loved, we too shall soon join the innumerable company of the spirits of just men made perfect. Our affections and our hopes are not buried in the dust, to which we commit the poor remains of mortality. The blessed retain their remembrance and their love for us in heaven; and we will cherish our remembrance and our love for them while on earth. Creatures of imitation and sympathy as we are, we look around us for support and countenance even in our virtues. We recur for them, most securely, to the examples of the dead. There is a degree of insecurity and uncertainty about living worth. The stamp has not yet been put upon it, which precludes all change, and seals it up as a just object of admiration for future times. There is no service which a man of commanding intellect can render his fellowcreatures better than that of leaving behind him an unspotted example. If he do not confer upon them this benefit, if he leave a character dark with vices in the sight of God, but dazzling with shining qualities in the view of men, it may be that all his other services had better have been forborne, and he had passed inactive and unnoticed through life. It is a dictate of wisdom, therefore, as well as feeling, when a man eminent for his virtues and talents, has been taken away, to collect the riches of his goodness and add them to the treasury of human improvement. The true Christian liveth not for himself, and dieth not for himself. |