Semi-weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1852-1853, 1853-06-25


land. where they lost in all but IN song OF IN
story 10 those who come after them:
The echoes Of the joys and the SORROWS ot which
they have been the subjects OF the causes, are
strangely mingled with its waters and come up 10
MS who succeed them ever and anon, as we pass
along. to cheer or to warn us.
Fit we're true, that when men disappear in that
shadow cloud called death, they cease to be, as
well as to be visible-if this life contained the
whole sum of mans hopes-still, even for the uses
of this ephenleral existence, it would be wise to
draw lessons from the experience Of the departed
and to furnish ourselves from them with charts oe
noting the goodly spots may visit in the voyage
of life, and the rocks and Shouts upon which even
our earthly freightage may be wrecked
And the hone that we shall be remembered
when we shall cease to act, is the one to which
man cliuos with most irreprcssibe f"ndness; ana
ia in fact. the budding sense OF that llnmortalIy
which Christian men believe will expand into beau
tiful luxuriance beyond the grave ~
n ia due then, alike to the living and the Illus
trous dead that we should not sutfr the latter 10
pass away like the foam upon the river; but th't
we should, oathe one hand, award 10 thtlr Is they
NAV merit, more or less of that immortality they
so much coveted in life and on tn" other, aPPro-
pirate for the uses of succeeding generations as
much as possible of their good examples
We have accordingly assembled this day. my
friends, to think and to speak OF one who has
passed away from our view, behind th''C SH'ioo"H
ccurtain whose momcntouS conccalments we DESIRE
vet shudder to unveil-Dut wh"' WINE "in9 ''',
cd a conspicuous part the worlds theatre
On the 9th day of April, 1886, WILLIAM RUFUS
K,xc came into being. In the county OF Slmp-
son. where we are now assembled, he was b0rn
and there are hearts at this moment gathered
around us in which the same blood pulsates that
warmed him into life
Ofhis infant years it is not my purpose to speak.
They probably passed away very much like those
of other bows born to reasonable share OF THIS
worlds comforts, and surrounded by tf'ehds 10
encourage and instruct them
= In this quiet and sequestcred region The name
of William r. King took its rise, like some modest
spring unostentatiously bnbing up into being The
nun nnrines of his early course were listened t"
expand into majestic river, boldly sending forth
its stream into many lands, ana attracting the no
tice of millions, ere 1t should lose itself in the
ocean of eternity. But it was so. And We are
now gathered around this humble tountanhead, to
contemplate with admiration the course Of the no
BILE current that flowed out from hence, and vain!y
to strain our vision into that distant haze that over
hangs the ocean in which it IS lost.
1t is very meet then, that the peoPl of Samp-
son county should be the chief mourners at the
funeral of William r. King, and that they should
rejoice most heartily in the funess of his fame.
And if l may be parconed an allusion to SELF on
this solemn occasion, it is not inappropriate that
he who now addresses you should he the speaker
of their thoughts To say nothing Of the fiend-
ship of the deceased with which | was honored.
or of the opportunities l enjoyed of knowing and
approaching his WORTH too, am i'll some Sense, a
son of Sampson. Here, many years ago, while
vet boy, addressed n jury for the first time.
Here, made my first appearance on the forensic
theatre and commenced that profession through
which have so long and so labOriouSly toilcd.
doubt, the princi pal reason why have been Sc
Iected by your committee, to perform this most
agreeable task. Agreeable, in the highest degree,
it would certainly have been, had time and oppor-
tunity been afforded me to have done more JUS
tice to- the sulIect-to have consulted the public
records, in which the deeds of William r. King
have been written-to have picked up some of the
Evolutionary incidents of his life, with which to
garnish my story; and even to have called up,
from my own memory, some of the many inter
esting events i'll his life, of which [ one of the
witnesses. But the continual pressure of other
engagements that could not put aside has pre-
vented all this; and you, my friends, must be con-
tented with very meagre sketch CT MIN, whose
full length portrait would gladly have presented.
In those early days to which have referred,
William R. King was the distinguished favorite of
the people of Sampson; and although lie had even
then deserted the bar for the political field in which
he has SO successfully labored, he sill: consid-
cred one of its members. But l did not meet
him there. The bar not then crowded as it
now is, and Davis, Toomer, Mcarcs, Shaw, Mcmillan
and Henry, were the only members of the profcs-
sion that assembled in the old Courthouse, then
shaded by yon ancient oak, when first it was my
fortune to visit Sampson. But one OF that num-
Der is now left besides myself, to tell how Taylor
and Hall and Seawell and Henderson, and other
distinguished judges, administered justice in those
by-gone days. And in this our mood of sorrow,
in speaking of William r. King, it may not be
out of place to refer to these men also, as among
the proud memories of Sampson. They were
worthy and esteemed associates of William r.
King they have place in the memory and af-
fectons of his eulogst they will be forgotten
in the professional annals of North Carolina. Nor
would it be Just to the memory of William Duffy,
or to the claims of the ancient town of Fayette-
vile, to omit to mention that, in that town, and
under the tuition of William Duffy Mr. King
passed through his training for the profession Of
the Law. OF Mr.. Duffy am unable to speak from
my own observation but he bore the reputation
of professional preceptor worthy of his distin-
gushed pupil.
At any rate, Mr.. King commenced the practice
OF law in Sampson county, about the year 6O4
or 1905, with every promise of the most complete
success. Moral qualities, not now SC ncedfu for
success; were indispensable i'll those days. Those
qualities of the chevaer courage and courtesy were
not more requisite for knight in the times of
Ceour de Lion, than they were them for a lawyer
iuizfh .of And NJ L