Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-12-08

! countenauce. faded and wasted, surely then
| the heart is made to drink all the bitterness
of human woe. Yet, amidst this individual
| soYrow, the grandeur and nobility OF deaths
! victims should not be permitted to go down
/ TO the Stave unnoticed and unemployed, for
such excelleDcy ls the messenger of great
moral Influence to the living, and death loses
| half of its bitterness in the remembrance OF
! those peerless qualities OF the soul which for
ever live. IT'S true" exclaimed dying
Hector, before the walls Of Troy
d" IT'S true perish. yet perish CREST;
Yet IN a mighty deed shall eXpire;
Let future ages hear 1t and admire"
And admired Hector was, and Homer
| sings his fame and heroic deeds. Yet, with
all due respect before ancient heroes, real
and mythical, l hold that Hector de-
served it not-that his hercism was
far below the herOism OF Hannah SehalshG.
who, in the bloom Of her youth, surrendered
life in the futile effort TO save that Of her
sisters. Hector was called a hero, because
he defended Troy and slew Patroclus. All
the ancient heroes purchased their titles by
! bloody contest-hy the asnihIlation Of human
! life; he that possessed most of brutal force
I who wore the heaviest armor, who slew the
most Of men, was adored as a hero by the
| ancients. But is SUCH the real hero? No.
/ ludeed far in the background must the
| heroes of ancient Greece and Rome now re
| treat, when / speak Of the true heroes of the
| present; of the sainted martyrs Of cur pe0
! Gle who, invested with no other armor than
| that OF their faith in God and man, came to
! the rescue of TIE sick and afflicted, 10 save
| life as long as human power could save, and
! - alleviate the sorrow of the afflicted when
! human help could do no more, until the
| savicurs themselves received the fatal blow
which consigned them to the grave. once
| saw Ia an art gallery faithful copy of the
! celebrated LAGOON, one of the most famous
works of ancient culpture. This group of
| figures has for its subject the following
| classic legend. LAGOON was a priest of
! Apollo, in Troy, who warned his countrymen
| against taking into the city the wooden horse,
within whose hollow body a number of
! Greeks were concealed to take the city bs
stealth. While doing this, his two children
were attacked by serpen;s, who fastened
| themselves upon their youthful forms. Lao
coon came TO the rescue, but while attempt
ing to free his children from the serpeuts he
! got himself involved IN the coils, and thus
| perisbed with those he so dearly loved, ard
| whom he sought to save. All who have ever
stood before this grand work of ancient
sculpture, have expressed their great admi-
ration and Lessing's genius has immortalized
its grandeur and beauty In special dsser-
tation. But is it not more real demonstra-
ton of this grand idea, when young girl,
upon the summons of her father, comes to
| the rescue of her fever stricken sisters, aud,
dlIlOugQ inIOTuleu ludt s1o mus TuSucS lDlO
the arms Of death, would not hesitate mo-
ment to lay her life upon the altar of sisterly
love? She, too, like LAGOON, in the
effort to save her two sisters
Fanny and Ida-became involved
in the coils of that venomous serpent, yellow
fever-"Those loving one another III life we're
not separated in death Samuel ii, !.
Without detracting single ray of beauty
from ancient arr, we could well afford to take
down from the pedestal of the LAGOON these
mythical figures and place upon 1t this real
type of self sacrifice, this hfe-lke illustration
of modern heroiSm, and write beneath it the
beautiful lines of the poet:
Like three young olives in some sylvan scene,
Clad IN the loveliest gaTb OF summer green;
Were those three sisters, whose endeasipg love
Has c0nsummation gained in realms above
As deaths whiflWiud came and swept two away
Dropping alone, the other could not stay
Even 80 with our departed brother, Jacob
Leopold. He, too, was at a safe distance
from death and destruction, but the thought
that be might be able to be a messenger of
Providence-dd not let him rest, and
while the inherent law OF self-pre-
servation and the love for fami-
Iy sdrove thousands away from the city
love for family and the desire to munster to
the sick, made him go forth from his home
at Waco, Texas, to enter the lethal regions of
the plague, where
For men to make their exits"
and give up for man what God had given
him-his life. Perhaps, many a man had
surmised, that not SO much OF noble senti-
ment and self-abnegation could be found in a
young man of the present generation, but
such examples teach US that we should not
anticipate mans conduct, nor judge him
ere his whole course of life is run. Yeshe
koneh Olonak besh00h Gchas. Some people
hoe rubOl in ola
say our .rabbis in the talmud (Abodah So
rah). When Epaminondas was asked which
of the three he held in greatest esteem, Cha
bris, Iphicrates or himself, he answered
"You must first see us die, ere this questioc
can be settled, for the whole value of Efe's
in DEATH Never should we look
down with disparagement and disdain
upon any human being because of
faults, defects and imperfections which
we had occasion to notice; one noble deed,
one voluntary good act, may redeem the
out forever from the book of life. Brethren,
if it is thus iilustrious and great to show
such stoicism and self sacrifice in behalf Of
friends and kindred, how much greater, how
much more iluStrious, IS l5 to tender the same
kind offices to ALTO the rich and the poor,
to the educated and the ignorant, to the sim
ne- and TO the rignteous-tJ bring the mes
sage of love and charity to the Gentle and
the Jew, to the fever stricken and the grief
stricken. Oh, how glorious and how exalted
must the character of that man be, who, as
the interpreter of Jewish benevOlence and
philanthropy, sits at the bedside of strangers
as a friend, who as an apostle of Judaism
whispers words of consolation to the tender
child and to the old mar, to the healthy in
body and to the sick at heart, to the dying
and to the living. A man who Goes this,
who builds up, as it were, whole worlds OF
charity out of sympathy to the afflicted,
and then surrenders his life as the
G1al sacrifice, because be would not
give less than he had, such a man is certain
ly greater than LAGOON, Hector, Patrocius,
and the whole host of ancient heroes; such a
man certainly deserves that niche be dadi-
Gated to him in the Walhalla of memory, in
the temple of fame; such man certainly
deserves the name of sainted hero, mighty
sovereign in the vast empire of philanthropy.
And the man who did all this and more was
an Israelte; a faithful disciple of Judaism, a
member of this congregation, our friend and
brother, Nathan Menkea. They tell me he is
dead, but believe it not, my brethren; his
spirit may have taken her flight from the
mortal clay 'to pay the debt to nature;"
they may have carried his body to the grave,
but he is not dead, he lives to-day in our
midst, in the midst OF this assembly, in our
hearts and minds, for whatever makes the
man the soul. E., the Thoughts sentiments
and virtues-are yet with us. and live more
real life than ever before. Montaigpe, the
celebrated French sceptic, said: 'One gal
liant action ought not to conclude a man
valiant; if a man was brave indeed, he
would be always so, and upon all occasions.
Although the maxims of sceptic are to be
taken with caution, yet this maxim of
Montaigne is certainly a truism. Man
sometimes reveals manllness, courage and
sef-denial for period, and then relapses
into habits which are not well calculated to
testify to his bravery and self-control. He
that wishes to be distinguished by true
heroism, must discipline his character before
hand, by virtue of self-restraint, self-denial
and self-government, in all the relations of
life. A true hero must have the courage and
manhood to fight and battle against all the
evils and calamities of mau-not only against
but against passions base and
low and vices small and great, and be at
work for the welfare of his fellow-men at all
times and all occasions.
"All honor then, to that brave heart,
Though rich or poor he be,
Who struggles with his baser part;
Who conqoers and is free.
He may wear hero's crown,
Or fill hero's grave;
The world will place his name
Amongst the brayest OF the brave"
In reviewing the life of our departed
friend and brother, the revelation is
made that the moral elements OF
his character were made 60 feVoIVe around |
self. directing power, governing all personal, !
and religious affections, thereby
endo~ ing his whole course of conduct with
stability and independence, with a refinement
of manners and an evenness of temper, ss 1t |
is seldom found united in one man. Nathan |
D. Menken was born in Cincinnati, in 1887. |
Bereft of father and mother when only four
teen years of age, he was thoughtful enough |
10 perceive that, in order TO succeed in life, !
he had, above all, to educate himself, SO that |
by the virtue and power of knowledge he |
might open for himself successful career. |
He visited one Of the best colleges in Cincin- |
lati, and the instruction received there, COM
oined with his earnest efforts of self-cultnre, |
aid broad ard lasting foundation for the |
further development and education ST his II =
tellect. Neither did he neglect to cultivate |
mis- religious sentiment, the fruitful germs tf
which pious parents had laid in his soul dur |