Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1880 — Shall We Meet Again? [ARTICLE]

Shall We Meet Again?

The following Is ope of the most brilliant paragraphs ever written by Ae lamented Geo. D. Prentice: “The fiat of death is inexorable. There is no appeal for relief from that great law which dooms us to dust. We flourish and fade as Ac leaves of Ae finest, and Ae flowers that bloom, wither and fade in a day have no frailer hold upon life than Ae mightiest monarch that ever shook the earth with bis footsteps. Generations of men will appear and disappear as Ae grass, and Ae multitude Aat throng Ae world to-day will disappear as footsteps on the shore. Men seldom think of Ae great event of death until Ae shadow fells across Aeir own pa A way, hiding from Aeir eyes Ae feces of loved ones whose living smile was the sunlight of their existence. Death is Ae antagonist of life, and Ae Aought of Ae tomb is the skeleton pf all leasts. We do not want to go through Ae dark valley, although its dark passage may lead to paradise; we do not want to go down into damp graves, even wiA princes for bedfellows. In Ae beautiful drama of lon the hope of immortality, so eloquently uttered by Ae deaA-devoted Greek, finds deep response in every thoughtful soul. When about to yield his life a sacrifice to fete, his ClemanAe asks if Aey should meet main; to which he responds: I have asked that dreadful question of Ae bills Aat look eternal—of Ae clear streams Aat flow forever—of stars among Aose fields of azure my raised spirits have walked in glory. All are dumb. But as I gaze upon Ay living face, I feel that there is something in love that mantles through its beauty Aat cannot wholly perish. We shall meet again, Cleman Ae.”