The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1903-12-11

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shall give up its dead and each one
be Judged according to his worth.
Let us give to him now the same
charity and love and mercy we
shall hope for then. Brother, if
he had any faults, We have forgot
ten them. God grant that he may
rest in peace.
Truly are the ways of the Mas
ter strange and inscrutable! We
may gaze into the depths OF the
infinite until our vision is lost In
it's immensely, but still the mys-
terry of life and death is unsolved
and an enigma to us, as it has been
to the countless seers and phlloso-
pliers of the ages gone. AS NOR
tails we recognize our own lmpo-
tence and weakness, and we can
but submit to the divine ordl-
nances and kiss the rod that
smites; yet, when we contemplate
how ruthless, and to us how cruel,
has been Providence in snatching
from our midst one who was as
loving as he was lovable, Brother
Campbell Garth, we must bow our
heads in resignation and say: "Oh
Lord, not my will but thine be
DONE" Brother Garth was a
young man whose bark was just
beginning to breast the waters
lighted by the rising sun when the
pillows enguIfed his hopes and
ours; death kissed down his eye
lids and he sank into that dream
less sleep of the silent eternity.
Why should he have been taken
and SO many Of us less worthy and
less useful have been left behind!
Why should his little children miss
those envied kisses and long for
those knees they had SO often
climbed to share his fond caresses?
Why should his devoted wife cry
now and call in vain upon that
dear heart never again to beat in
response? Why should we, his
brothers. have been desolated by
his absence and plunged into mis-
cry at his loss, and why should
this town, this county and this
State have been required to give
their sweetest and their best? All
brothers, why have we been made
to drink Of this bitter cbalice, for
in the death of Brother Garth, we,
his family, and his fellow citizens
have sustained an irreparable in
jury?
There is an old adage which has
come down to US that of the dead
nothing but good should be spok.
en-, but | may say of Brother Garth
that of him nothing but good can
be said. He was a sincere Chris
tian, an exemplary father, de
voted husband, an afectionate
son to his old father and mother,
a loving brother, an enterprising
and progressive citizen, true and
loyal member or this lodge, a con-
sistent and practical Elk. Charity
was his handmaiden and was ever
at his side as he walked through
life, and if | had purple violet
now for each sad heart he has
made lighter, if had a blushing
rose for each loving deed of kind
ness he has done, if | had a peer
less lily for every act of mercy
and religion performed by him,
this place would be as redoIent
with perfume as the valley Of
Sharon in the times of the proph-
-ets and we would be buried be-
meath a wilderness of flowers.
Wherever our eyes are turned
we see The inevitable traces of
death and decay. Our lives are
but lent to us for a little while and
then recalled for an accounting, to
be weighed il the balance of JUS
tee for what we have done in the
Flesh; and my brothers, at the
great day of Judgment may we
be able to look our Creator in the
face and say that in spite of all out
faults and imperfections we have