Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-05-23
HORACE WATERS.
The Last Sad Rites at Trinity Bap-
list Church.
Large Congregation Assemble 20 Pay
the Last Tribute of Respect to
n. ~ nzI.. N~Nt.,n.n

neral services of Horace Waters at Trim
ity Baptist Church, this city. The
church was Allied. with those who came
TO. pay the last tribute of respect to one
of the truest and grandest men that
ever lived.
A little after eleven o'clock, the re-
mains were carried with mournfpl
tread into the church, while from the
pipe organ came the sweet, subdued
and sad tones of solemn dirge. A
quartette sang very touchingly Lead.
Kindly Light" which was followed by
a prayer from the pastor of the church.
Miss Catherine Whittier sang in a voice
of rare sweetness and beauty that most
touching solo 'One Sweetly Solemn
Thought by Ambrose, which reached
the heart of every one present
Rev. Mr.. Bateman, the pastor of the
church. then delivered the funeral SER
mon. He said:
1--WE have met together to mourn the
loss of a father, a brother, and a friend.
he was related to us all; to some as a
near and dear relative; to some as an
officer of this church; to some as
comrade in a battle still going on: to
all of us and to millions outside as
friend indeed.
I'VE are not here to eulogize but to
bury him, and therefore | may spare
myself and You any lengthy tabulation
of his virtues or analysis of his char
acter; and yet, surely it is fitting that
here, in the presence of his remains, in
the quiet of this hushed assembly, i'll
this place he loved so we'll, we should
briefly survey the proportions of his
character that we may know how great
the loss is that we have sustained and
how great the sorrow of those upon
whom the blow has fallen most heavily.
That he was man of principle is
shown by every page of his remarka BILE
life. What the general course of that
life was you know better than /; and
perhaps it's spirit was never shown
more clearly than in 1870 when misfor-
tune overlook him and he lost what he
had laboriously earned. He refused to
accept that release from obligations
which the law had made his right, went
diligently to work again, and paid his
creditors in full
His name will always be associated
with three great movements:
Horace Waters was an Emanci-
pationist when A Abolition was regarded
as the delusion of a fanatic if not an
actual rebellion against the teaching of
the Holy Scriptures
with him the question was not one
of politics or expediency. He had
looked down with pity upon the marred
visage and covering form of the
oppressed; their misery awoke his
tenderest sympathy: he thought
as he looked upon the manacled hands
and feet and branded brow, of the print
of the nails and the crown of thorns;
1 II IL III IL ~ l.
upon Himself the form of bond slave;
and then resolved that the slave
should be freed, and freed he was.
1T was the same in the milder con-
fict of the Revision of the Scriptures.
"A third reform to which he gave
himself, received perhaps even a larger
share of his interest than these. He
vas q man of plain speech. You might
differ from him; It was impossible to
misunderstood him. No intricate spec
ulations of public policy weighed with
him. Liquor sends souls to hell' he
said, and held that its sale ought to be
entirely prohibited. lie believed that the
remedy was clear, definite, and sure of
success. 1t was right, it was the essence
of all religion, and if l understood his
spirit rightly he would rather have been
burned alive than forsake the principles
he had espoused
"He was a philanthropist By this
term do not mean that he gave large
sums of money away. He did that;
but he did more; he loved men, and
that was the secret of his philanthropy.
at was love of men that famed the
fire of his hatred of slavery; it was
love of men that made him long for
what he regarded as pure Bible; it
was love of men that made him hate
with all the fervor of a good heart a
traffic which he believed was doing for
the souls of men what slavery had only
done for their bodies. He was Chris
tian as we'll as a patriot
"Yes, he loved men and his life pur-
pose was to serve them.
Satisfied that he was called to preach
the Gospel he was willing to relin-
Quish his business and enter the min
istry of the Word but when it was
urged upon him that he might serve
God equally well by remaining where
he was and helping others, he
accepted the alternative; and to-day
men are preaching the Gospel at his
charges Souls have been saved
and poor struggling Churches have
been made strong through the instru-
mentality of him who made himself
the ministers minister.
His piety was of very robust
type;
an athlete-his heart was tender as a
woman's. He had the voice of STEM
tor; but was easily provoked to sympa-
thetic tears
"He saw things with clear vision, and
called them by familiar names. An un-
true thing was lie; if not right it was
wrong: if not good it was bad; if he
could not be enthusiastic over thing,
he let it alone. Certainly he had a
grasp of principles, but better still they
had an immense grasp of him, and ar
guments against them fell like rain
drops upon granite rocks
''Only few weeks ago he took cold
| at public dinner of the Prohibition
party, and was ordered to the bed from
which he never rose There he quietly
rested, and until then none knew how
strong he was. Accustomed to an ac-
tive life, the life of soldier and re
former. he yet lay still and uttered not
q single mumur.
'He never suggested that he was
diving, and when he received the solemn
notice he accepted with calmness and
fifth. Years before he had given him
self TO God: it never occurred to him
that in his last feeble days God would
forsaKe him. If ever he had had any
fear he had buried it with his sins in
the sepulchre of the crucified
] with characteristic hope, he de-
clared on Saturday morning that he
1 Salt ss,1vaftv SMART. n little lafAr ha