And "Was Not,"

Auckland Star, Volume XVI, Issue 3807, 21 October 1882, Page 3 (Supplement)

And "Was Not,"

TriEY were a strange family; no ono over die* with them and was buried. Thoy laid their dear ones away, and when thoy spoke of them said they had " passed over " or " gono home." There was Jamie with the blue eyes and golden hair; when they alluded to the time of his death they said, "When our boy was called," and in running over tho names of their little flock the mother would say, " Jennie and .Nellie aro sleeping." It seems so strange to the people about them, for' they wero not Quakers nor soul-aleopcrs, nor did they belong to any sect. It was just their own quaint way, For (hey wero the world's pcoplo after all, dressed as others did, all but the dear old grandmother, who had so nearly finished her earthly pilgrimage, and went to the pleasure resorts with as much zest for enjoyment as tho most trifling worlding; nay. more, fnr niwU-»t »v mey had concealed a freahnesa and Roodncsi that kipt the arid desert of fashion croen with its own up-springing. They never becamo world-wiso or world-weary, but looked on rriiu nhinin£ eyes and saw the pictures of life grouped about them and woro content with their own.

It was to theso people, making a picture of peace and benty, that all loved to look at in that reflex light, by the seaside, that a sudden call came—a message over the wires; and as others gathered about with blanched faces and whispered one solemn word—death-they looked up with tearwet lashes and echoed softly and with trembling lips "Life" and parsed away from among us in gentle, noiseless haste. For this is what hnd como to them : The old grand-dame, with her teeble step and ailver hair, had " passed away" in the morning watch; gone so swiftly and peacefully that—

Thoy thought hor dying whon she slept, And sloeplng when sho died.

And when they laid her away ia the clover-tufted lot, by the side of the companion of her youth, they found the last words eho had written, with [tremulous hand—just a verse, which showed them where she had been in spirit: They aro all gone into tho world of light, . And laloneeitlingoringhere. Their very memory Is fair and bright, And my sad thoughts doth clear. Then they laid aside the possessions she had left, and underneath her last writiDg they added this : Not dead, not sleeping, not oven gone, But present still. And waiting for the coming hour O£ God's sweet will 1" And when they speak of her it is to say sho has gone to the next conntry, and they smile to themselves as they try to picture what she io doing, to follow her in that white world, whose crystal promise glitters in every sky. " Eye hath not seen, neither hath ear heard; nor has it entered Into tho heart of man to conceive " of its beau'y. Far out of sight whilo yet the flesh enfold us Lies tho fair country where our hearts abide, And of iti Dlisa ia naught moro wondrous told

Than those few words; " I shall be satisfied."

There is a tender and true story of Wall Whitman; at tbe f aneral of a little cbijd, a nephew, the poet fat near tho white coffin, and held on his knee a beautiful littlcgirl; the looked in childish wonder upon the paraphernalia of death, and then inquiringly gazed into the old man's face, "You don't know wbat it i«, my dear, do you," said the poet gently; then he added reflectively: " Neither do we !"

Nothing is known: but I believo That God is overhead, And as life is to tho living, So death is to tho dead.