The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-04-21
JUDGE BALpwIN,s TRIBUTE
To the Memory OF the Late Noah ;. Lar Oss-
Address at the Grave.
(Iegaasport Phsros. I

woman. Yesterday witnessed q scene the
like of which never occurred in our county.
Our deceased friend ceased to be officially
connected with the Cas- County bar over
thirteen years ago. The merciful statute OF
limitations had legally buried in its kindly
forgetfulness. at least three-fourths of bis
official labors. A new generation of lawyers
had sprung up since be gave wav to his
successor, and a majority of the old ones had
gone the way of all earth. Yet when the
word was passed around that the BODY of
Noah LsRose was in the city, we all, with
one accord. young and old. gathered 20 do
honor TO bis memory. Not satisfied with
ten memorial speeches. and with spreading
resolutions upon the records of our highest
court to go down to posterity,
am here this afternoon in behalf of, and at
the REQUEST of the Logansp0rt bar, to speak
on their behalf still further words beside
this open grave, and before the pathetic de-
cree of earth to earth and dust to dust
shall have shut out his kindly face and form
forever from our sight. What is the cause
OF all this genuine, unaffected honor. the
like of which was never bestowed upon any
of the distinguished deceased members of
our bar? Noah La Rose was not talented,
be was hardly known beyond Cas- County.
He never made speech in his life; he was
not a leader in any sense OF the term. he
was simply plain, unassuming, quiet, gem
tie man. The cause is open to everybOdy's
est man is the noblest work of God" He
added in quiet modest way to the sum Of
human kindness and took away from the
sum OF human sorrow. He was every body's
friend and nobody's enemy. His friend
ships were from no selfish motive
but because he loved, unconsciously loved,
his kind, and unconsciously illustrated in his
daily walk and conversation those profound
Scriptures There is giving that enricheth"
and The liberal soul shall be made fat" He
knew bat little of the withholding that i'm.
pOyefisheth" Lawyers are the severest OF
all critics, from instinct and-by habit. They
are most UnmercIful enemies OF shams, pre-
fences and Alterations. No man can run the
gauntlet for years of the criticism of learned
and skillfUl lawyers and come out uncsthed,
yet this is what Noah LaRose did; plain, I'M
affected Noah, with nothing but common
school education and oid-fashioned manners.
AS was eloquently remarked yesterday, if he
had an enemy In the world, il was the fault
of the enemy and not of LaRose. No man
ever looked into ms kindly. homely face
that did not find his evil instincts rebuked
and his unkIrd purposes checked. Cor
ruption never approached him. Malice
never put up her putrid lips to breathe
SANDER in MS ear. Gossip never found a
welcome in his breast. For seventeen years,
we, Of the Cass County bar knew our dear
friend in his daily walk and conversation,
bic tests-personal intimacy. think as 1
stand by his open grave, | voice the univer
sal Judgment OF everybody, that purer and
more upright man ne yer lived. He was a
model of order, neatness and accuracy.
Without making any pretence to being
religious man, he was, in truth and fact, un-
consciously religious. l recall hundred in
stances of his official consciousness. Not
one clerk in a hundred but does not think ii
time enough to pay over official money when
demanded. LaRose never waited for the de-
mand. but instantly upon its receipt notified
the creditor that his money was ready. If
the sum was small and the owner needy he
would often send the money to remote points
of the county by SOM trusty messenger. He
was far more particular in little matters than
in great. The rich could always wait until
the needy were first served.
During LaRose's seventeen years of official
life he had a thousand opportunities to over
charge, and no one ever suffer or be any the
wiser for it. Ii was never done l do net
think the records of Cass County, made by
him, and their volume is enormous, will
show penny unJustly taken or penny I'M
justly withheld.
Our deceased friend had another very re-
markable characteristic. While he never
said what he did not mean and always meant
Just what he said, he could say "no"-and
say it with emphasis. If proposition did
not meet his judgment, and he said so, it
was of very little use to attempt TO change
him. He always said yes to the right-and
his yes was no barren, formal acquiescence,
but was invariably backed up by his purse
and his sympathy. No man in Logansport
ever gave more generously and unobtrusive-
ly. For years he was a quiet patron of the
Orphans Home, and of the poor and un-
fortunate. No one ever went from him
empty-handed.
Philanthropy was the key of his character.
! shall recall with delight as long as live
his animation at the progress that a nephew
and niece of his made in the liberal educa-
ton that he generously gave each of them.
His niece, especially, he educated at one of
our most expensive colleges and spared
nothing that money could buy TO contribute
to her advancement or advantage as scholar
and an useful woman.
Another characteristic OF our dec eased
friend was his aversion to office and office
seeking. He was unquestionably very
popular man. and popular in the very best
sense of the term. Genuine popularity is
the unconscious tribute which we pay to
merit. Yet LaRose seldom sought for any
promotion or for the loaves and fishes that
follow Office. After he had amassed mod
est competency he was satisfied to stand
back and let others take places that he was
often solicited to fill. do not wish, nor am
/ commissioned by my fellow lawyers to
overdraw the picture. Noah, no doubt, had
his faults and limitations BY the unwritten
law OF humanity, we bury them all with
him. AS much as any man that ever knew
did he fill the perfect measure of a useful
citizen and modest gentleman.
"His virtues walked their narrow round,
Nor made pause, nor left void;
And sure the eternal master found
His single talent well employed"
Standing now by his open grave, face to
face with all the solemn emblems of human
mortality, what shall l add concerning those
deeper questions that come to us all, oftener
than we are willing to admit? 1t would be
untruthful to say that Noah was a Christian
in the accepted meaning of that term. He
seldom attended church, although he helped
build and support all of the churches in our
city. he had no creed. He did not believe
in any of the accepted dogmas. He was GER
tsinly not man OF prayer and yet make
bold to say that he was full of unconscious
Christianity. What is Christianity? 1t is
certainly not belief in certain set of propo-
sitions. If il was, then heaven is the reward
of intellectual acuteness. and accuracy in be-
lief is of greater consequence than fidelity in
duty. The great founder of the Christian
religion once drew aside the veil of death
and gave US a glimpse of the last judgment.
Here it is:
Then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father; inherit the
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
OF the world. For / was an hungered and We gave