The news & observer., 1901-01-25
OLIVIA RANEY LIBRARY.
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OF her we'll ordered life: for it was then
and there in the presence of a full con-
gregation OF admiring friends whose faces
reflected the happiness of the occasion,
that she plighted her troth in Holy matri-
mony to that highly favored Christian
gentleman who, was henceforth to be the
sharer OF her every joy and sorrow. That
the married life OF two such congenial
kindred souls whose heart beat as one.
would prove an idel one, was to have been
confidently anticipated; and that such was
the fact was abundantly apparent to all.
But alas how short-lived are the brgiht-
est worldly prospects and the fond hopes
OF q long continuance of our purest joys
and highest earthly happiness. At five
o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, May
9Th, 1896, exactly seventeen months after
her happy marriage, the earthly taberna-
Gle of this sainted soul was brought to
Christ church for it's burial.
Never, / thought did our beautiful
burial service seem to speak with clearer
utterance words of assured comfort and
consolation to the bereaved of the blessed
dead who die in the Lord" and never
have / seen congregation OF sorroWlng
friends more deeply moved-for repre-
sentatives of every class in the community
felt that they had sustained a personal
loss. And as with the dying OF the day
we tenderly laid to rest this precious
body IN our beautiful Oakwood with the
plaintive notes of that sweet hymn abide
with me: fast falls the even tide; the
Darkness deepens; Lord with me Abide,
still lingering in the air, ! never more
fully realized the appropriateness of that
prayer in which we had just thanked God
for the good examples of all those Flis
servants, who, having finished their
course in faith. do, now rest from their
labors"
mo life can be pure. fr its purpose and
strong insits strife,
And ell life not be Durer and stronger
thereby.
The Spirits of just rmen made perfect on
high AN
The army of martyrsavho stand by the
Throne N
And gaze into the face that makes glori-
Gus their own.
Know this surely at last"
And we know it here and now also. fer
that the blessed influences for good OF
such lives do continue in the world and
will. even after the death of their mortal
bodies we need no more tangible evil
dcncc than that afforded by this occasion
and the beautiful building in which we
are row assembled.
II s well 10 erect modest monuments
over the spots that hold beloved dust
in our cemeteries. 1t is we'll also to place
memorials of our loved ones gone before,
in our churches, thus identifying and
80 n
their memories with the services OF
Prayer and Praise in which they partlcl-
pated; but better than either ! think II
is, to perpeutate their good deeds and
memories by gifts for the erection and
endowment of buildings and institutions
for benevolent and educational purposes
that shall continue to benefit and eie-
vate coming generations; for as no less
an authority than Daniel Webster once
declared IF we work upon marble 1t
will perish; if upon brass, time will efface
IL: If we rear temples they will crumble
into dust; but if we work upon our I'M
mortal minds. If we Undue them with
principles, with the Just love of God and
love OF our follow man. we engrave on
those tablets something that will brighten
through all eternity"
As Senator Hoar in his speech at the
recent Centennial celebration of the
foundation of Washington pointed out the
symbolic significance of the three great
architectural monuments that the century
had seen erected by the nation-the Capt.
tol. the Washington monument and the
Congressional Library--so in our smaller
sphere, at the beginning of this the sec
ond century of the foundation of Raleigh,
! think, we may point with pardonable
pride to our stately Capitol as sympoliz-
ing the Commonwealth loyalty to con-
stitutlonal liberty as represented by the
three departments of its government; to
our handsome Confederate monument as
81 token of our loyalty to the memory OF
our fallen heroes who laid down their
lives IN defense of those principles for
which Washington so successfully fought
and to this library as memorial of the
highest type OF our cultured Christian
womanhood, which, in the simplicity and
elegance of its graceful proportions and
unpretentious appearance may not unhtly
symbolize the admirably adjusted and
well rounded life and character OF her
whose name it bears. And the near prox-
atnity TO each other of these two memo
Yials is suggestive for all that noble band
OF women to whose unllFinS Sltoi 70 We alo
chiefly indebted for our Confederate monu
ment none had their patriotic purpose
more at heart or labored more cheerfully
for its accomplishment than did Mrs.
Paney.
Butt must BASS on to certain detalls
and business affairs about which as rep
senting the trustees ii has been made my
duty TO give you some information.
The Olivia Raney Library as 1T stands
represents, as has been already said. an
actual outlay of somewhat over 100000
sPo be exact it is SAL, ,OOO.) This includes
ihe valne of the Is of an acre site on
which it stands and which for conven-
ience of location could not be better
being as il is in the centre of the city
so near the Capitol square and at the
starting point and intersection of our
street car lines
Besides the complete furnishing and
equipment of the building it includes also
the cost of 5000 new volumes whose sub
ject matter is embraced under the general
topics of religion. philosophy sociology,
yhlilology. natural science. useful arts
fine arts, fiction, History and general lit
araiure and also subscriptions to num-
Der of valuable periodicals. both foreign
and domestic. These books carefully Sc