“I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies.”
The remains of the hero lie in the beautiful cemetery of the Naval Academy, overlooking the place of his birth and the scenes of his childhood. An appropriate tomb was erected over them, bearing this inscription:
JAMES BOOTH LOCKWOOD,
LIEUTENANT UNITED STATES ARMY,
Born at Annapolis, Maryland,
October 9, 1852,
Died at Cape Sabine,
April 9, 1884.
“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.”
On the day that the rector of St. Anne’s church, Rev. William S. Southgate, gave notice of the time of the burial, he made the following remarks:
“One of the truths of the Bible, taught us by the Church, the most difficult to receive and to hold practically, is that expressed in the words of the Collect for the last week: ‘O God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and on earth.’
“The difficulty arises from the fact that in so many cases we can not discover either the justice or the mercy or even the expediency of that ordering.