Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-16
lren do not love those who are selfish


OF child than depend on the judgment
OF a grown person where character and
goodness are in question.
A man Of the most refined manners
DR.. Stokes was a favorite with all
those who came to know him inti-
mately; so while the men respected him
for his manlincss Of principle and high
character, the women were his admir-
ing friends because Of his chivalry and
Difference to their sex, while the chill
dren loved him for his kindness and
sympathetic interest in all Of their lit
tie affairs.
It would be indelicate to invade the
sacred precincts Of his desolate home,
but the devotion which bound him to
his wife, the romantic idealized love, so
to speak, with which he regarded her,
made the separation Of those two who
were certainly lone twain" the more
heartrending. I cannot offer any con-
ISOLATION to that widowed heart that
will assuage it's longing, but 1t would
not be improper, perhaps, to say to her
that he is only gone before and waits
longingly for her coming, and she
should try to win comfort out Of the
sad consciousness that
'Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.
The world cannot give any compensa-
ton for her great loss, but she is sure
ly happier or will be less unhappy II
she will look at 1t from this point Of
view till the time shall come for their
reunion.
In looking over my friends life in Its
results am forcibly reminded Of that
sad truth contained in Grays lines:
The boast of heraldry, the pomp Of
power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth
e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the
grave.
DR.. Stokes was young in years; had
scarcely reached the meridian of life.
His public career had hardly begun, and
the equipment furnished by years of
study and extensive reading had PROM
ise of rich fruition. He had grown up
on the people Of our state during the
twelve years since his return among US.
and while the bitter strife that marked
the period Of his entry on the political
laff
breasts, they seemed to have left none
on his own.
The shafts Of envy and malice had
fallen hurtless, and his worth and high
character had so impressed themselves
on the people that in his last election
he was unopposed by any competitor,
and those who had at one time been his
most bitter antagonists had been won
to be warm friends or acquiescent op-
ponents, who had no i'll Of him. In
the zenith Of his fame and heighth of
his usefulness he has been stricken
down. We cannot understand why
these things are so; we cannot lift the
veil to find out why such man should
be taken and so many thousands less
useful and less worthy should remain.
We cannot realize why the cords Of
love and devotion which bound him to
life should have been snapped so ruth
lessly.
The journey Of life is full Of these
mysteries. We come into the world
unbidden, or rather without having
been consulted; we are hurried hence,
often without warning and suddenly,
without any power Of resistance. We
come and go like shadows, and we know
not why things are so ordered. Life
Is a battle from beginning to end, and
the grave is the only place of rest. We
are all Fastening to 1t, and many are
unconsciously very, very near its brink.
It is philosophical to think about
death calmly. but the law of life makes
us shun and dread it and put off to the
very last the thought of the time when
we shall bid adieu to this active scene.
By common consent, all men, both an
cient and modern, civilized and unciv-
ilized, heathens and savages, have re-
fused to accept death as an "unending
Sleep" The idea of annihilation Is so
abhorrent that the human soul recoils
with terror at such an ending. Tenny-
son has most beautifully expressed the
feeling of mingled fear and hope pui-
sating in our hearts when he says:
Oh. vet we trust that somehow good
Will be the final goal Of i'll;
To Dangs Of nature, sins Of will,
Defects of doubt, and taints of blood.
That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroyed.
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete
That not q worm Is cloven in vain;
That not a moth with vain desire
Is shriveIed in a fruitless fire
Or but subserves another's gain.
Behold we know not anything;
We can but trust that good shall fall
At last-far off-at last to all,
And every winter change to spring.
Strong son of God, immortal love,
Whom we that have not seen thy face
BY faith and faith alone embrace
Believing when we cannot prove.
Thou wilt not leave us in the dust:
Thou madest man he knows not why;
He thinks he was not made to die:
And Thou hast made him; Thou art
just.
In that blessed reunion to which
every human soul looks, in the bright
hereafter, when the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at
rest" may our friend and his loved
ones be united! and may we all so live
that when we come to die we shall
have as few sins to answer for as the