The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-03-07
TO HENRY w. GRADY
An Efuquent Memorial Ser
mon Preached by Dr.
Talmage.
He Reviews the Life of the
Great Orator and
Editor.

The subject OF Dr.. Talmagea sermon was
"Thc Life and Death OF Henry W. Grady, the
Editor and Orator" He took fo- his text
lsaiah viii L: Take thee n great roll, and
write in il with mans pen" Tie preacher
snid:
To Isaiah, with royal blood in his veins and
u hobitant of palaces, does this devinc order
come. He is to take u roll, grent roll, and
write on it within ren. not an angels pen, but
II mans pen. So God honorci the pen, and
30 he hnnore,l manuscript. In our day the
mightiest roll il in the religious ami secular
newspaper. and the mightiest pen is the eli-
torspen whether for good or evil. And God
says now to every literary man, and especial
ly to every journalist: Take grent roll
and write in it with n mani y pen"
Within IL few weeks ono of tue strongest,
most vivid and most brilliant of those pens
was lail down on the editorial desk in At.
lanta, never ngain TO he resumed. wns far
away ut the time We had heen sailing up
from the Mediterranean sen. through the
Dnrdnnellcs, which region is unlike thing |
ever saw for beauty. There is not any other
water scenery on eurth where God has done
SO many picturesque things with islands.
They are somewhat like the Thousand Isl
ands of our American st. Lawrence hut
Patmos, the place from which John Ind his
nporalyptic vision. COnstantinupo had
seemed to come out to greet ,is. for your ap-
pr0ach 10 thnt city il different from any
other city. Other cities us you approach
them seem to retire. hut this city, with its
slttcring minarets and pinnncles, seem al-
most to step INTO the water to greet you.
But my lnnding there, that would have been
TO me an rxhiarati0n, WIS suddenly stunned
with the ti,iings of the death of my intimate
friend, Henry W. Grady. could hardly be.
lirve the tings, for had left ON my study
table at home letters nnd telrgrnms from
him. those letters md t.legrams having n
warmth and geniality and IL wit such ns he
only could express. The departure Of no
public man for so mnny years has sO affected
me. For dnys ! walked about as in a dream.
aud resolved TINT, getting home, I would
for the sake Of his l'ereavei household, and
for The sake of his bereaved profession, and
for I he sake of what le had been to me and
shall continue to be ns long as memory lasts.
] would speak IL word in appreciation OF him,
the most promising Of Americans, md learn
some of tho salient lessons OF his departure
have no doubt that he had enemies. for
no man can live such an active life Ms he lived
or he 70 far In advance of his time without
making enemies. some because lio defeated
their projects and some because he Outahone
them. Owls and bats never did Iiko the rising
sun. But | slnll tell you how he uppea red I o
me. and nm glal that l told him while lie
was in full health what thought Of him.
Memorial orutions ind grlvest one epituplis
ars often mean enough. for they say of n
man after he is doad that which ought to
hnvc been said Of him while living. One gar
lnnd for II living brow is worth more thnn a
monument of fjnponirnsan calln lilea henpe
on II funeral cnsket by n little black volume
of 80 pages cont aiming the euiosiums and
poems uttered aud written at the demise OF
(lny and Webster and Calhoun nnd Lincoln
and Sumner, the world tried to pay for the
40 years of oblopuy it henpcd upon those
living ginnta. II | say nothing in praise of u
man while he lives will keep silent when lie
IL dend. Myrtlennd weeping willow can ney-
ar do whnt ought to have been done by ANA.
rnnth and pnIm branch. No amount Of
dead March in Saul" rumhing from big
organs nt the ohscquies can ntone for non.
appreciation of the man before he fell on
sleep. The llcarse cannot do what ought TO
have been done hy chariot. But there are
important things that need t" he said about
our friend, WHO wns n prophet in American
journalism and who only few years ngo
heard the command Of my text: Take thee
Il great roll, and write in it with u mans
pen