Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 2, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1858 — A BEAUTIFUL EXTRACT. [ARTICLE]

A BEAUTIFUL EXTRACT.

We take the following beautiful extract from the speech of Dr. Wm. H. Martin before the Sabbath-schools last Saturday, It I is a tribute to the memory of the lamented i Benjamin Henkle: | “ Children of the Sabbath-schools, Parents \and Friends-. Permit me to admonish you ' that ‘the night cometh ilr which no man can work.’ The old, the middle-aged and 1 the young are alike smitten in death. I ‘Leaves have their .time to fall, I And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, And stars to set; but all. Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O, Death!' I “Yes, my friends, death regards not the . season, but claims all seasons as his own. I The spring-time of youth—the blossoming ol summer—even the- bright promises of gladsome hopes of.the bridal party are invaded and ruthlessly sundered. Disease enters our dwellings—our loved ones languish on the bed of sickness and distress—our homes are made desolate—the pallid cheek, the faltering tongue, the ematiated form, too surely tell that the Angel of Death is hovering around our dwellings. He that gave, and He that taketh away, demandeth the spirit, and ‘the places on earth, that : once knew us, shall know us no more.’ ! Here a dearly-lovied mother is claimed for i the grave—there a father is touched by the ! icy hand of death; or it may be, that youth and beauty, who had the promise of many long years of worldly happiness, are called to lie down in the dark and silent tomb. Even now, as I throw my gye around this assembly, I miss the manly form of one whose presence always greeted us in gatherings like this. You well remember him, who, upon this day, one short year ago, stood in yonder pulpit and told us the story of the early settlement of this county. You well recollect the instruction, and deep interest, of that discourse. His well-timed wit and > wholesome humor find yet an echo in your j minds and hearts. How often have you been instructed by his wisdom! how frequently bendfitted by his advice! He was .not only among us, but he was of us; his heart dwelt in the midst of this people. Where now are his sage counsels! where now his ready wit? Alas! the Angel of Death has claimed all for his own! and he that we loved so well for his warm, social qualities, ifiis kindness, his benevoleftce, his wisdom and his integrity, ‘sleeps the sleep that knows no waking’—we shall behold him on earth no more. Who of us will be the next to follow! Ah! my friends, it is not for us to know, neither the day nor the. hour, when we shall be-'called to throw off our mortality; for as a thief in the night cometh the dead avenger. Let us work, then, while it is day. Lot us live, not only for this world, but let us live also for a glorious immortality, in another world, where sin, sorrow and death never come.”