The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-04-29

such a cause 1t seemed to me, and to
all young men who heard him. that here
was vital thing to work for, here in
decd a cause to which q man might nobly
attach himself, feeling sure that, though
he, himself, might fall, the cause would
60 marching grandly on.
And now what is the lesson OF this
sincere life, for we are not here this
evening 10 mourn DR.. Curry or to re-
count in formal fashion the details of
his life or to onumerate his specific
achievements. 1 know of no happier life
than Dr.. Currys. There is not an earn
est man here who does not thrill at the
thought of living such life of work.
and of making such an end of triumph
We do, indeed. sorrow with her to whom
his daily presence meant strength and
joy. We do, indeed, miss him here and
everywhere-we miss the tonic of his
urconquerablc youth, his noble micn and
presence, the vibrant tones of his voice.
the old-fashioned eloquence out of the
heart. the garnered wisdom and expert
ence, the sympathy, the vitality, and
holiness of the man. My own heart has
sense of loneliness for loss of him,
for love him as men love one another,
elder who has reached out to him warm
strong hands Of sympathy, helping him
thus to live Loyalty with his higher self,
end who has stood to his sight an en-
bodied ideal. "But we wage not any
feud with death" It IS the commonplace
of life. 1t is taught everywhere in ma
-ture and in literature, by the bright
winged CIPHER mera that utter about in
the garden sunshine after the spring
rains, and by the solemn imagery run
ming through human writing wherein life
is likened to the flying cloud, the stuff
of dreams, the fleeing shadows and the
yapor that vanishcth away. The strong
est of us all shall shortly, as time runs,
be otherwhere, even as our dead friend
and leader and the children playing in
the fields shall stand in our places doing
the worlds work. Matthew Arnold in
dover Beach" calls his love to the
window and bids her hear the grating
roar of the pebbles on the shore, bring
ing to his mind, as to Sophocles long
ago on the Eagean, the eternal ebb and
flow of human misery. They must love
each other, he says pitifully, for the
bright-seeming world lying before them
has really neither light, nor hope, nor
love- no gertrude, nor peace. nor help
from pain. Such a life as DR.. Curry's
put such pessimsm out Of thought and
soul, and teaches that the high analogies
and impulses Of life come not from the
moaning sea- but from the glad, renew
ing earth and from undismayed, advanc-
ing life.
The chief work, then, OF this noble life
was to develop an irresistible public
opinion in a democracy for the accom-
plishment of permanent public ends. Men
may forget the oratory, the diplomacy
the intellectual vigor, the gracious corn
pelling charm of Curry the man, but
they will not forget the earnestness, the
zeal the self surrender of Curry the
social reformer and civic patriot, and
when the final roll shall be called of the
great sons of the South, and of the ma
ton, who served society well when SER
vice was most needed, I believe that no
answer will ring out clearer and higher
and sweeter than the adsum of j. l.. M.
Curry. His work has been accomplished
and has been handed on to the living and
he has gone. His fame is secure for it
is the persistent fame of the teacher
and reformer.
Danube tells how he learned discipline
from Rus5ticus and kindnea~ Om Sex
tus and patience from Alexander, men
tioning one by one his old teachers, and
their names glow there forever beside
their pupils the pure pagan-shining
ike stars in that heather night. In such
ways does the teacher live on through
generations, teaching in death as in life.
Is it not the task of the living to take
this public opinion, now ductile and
shapeable, and fashion it into scientific,
active forces and realize it in even great
or and more enduring institutions and
agencies for the betterment of man? Is 1t
not our task, gaining strength from the
example of this dead leader of ours, to
press forward with patience and quiet
resolves, not to be deferred, not to be
made afraid, not to despair, not to re-
pine, nor fret nor doubt, not to listen
to any voices, but to the better voices
within us. which tell us that such work
cannot die? Surely this work we are in
i sthe nations work, and this nation is
great spiritual and moral adventure
worth living for and working for as well
as dying for,
Earnest, simple men like him of whom
we have spoken, have hallowed it's past
by upright living and patriotic purpose.
Strong, stout souls hear the call to bat
tie for the integrity of it's present life
and hints and prophecies of its wide and
liberal future sing in the hearts of the
long. bright line of invincible youth to
whose freedom we stand pledged, even
as there stood pledged TO us the high
etatIIrpd mon of the olden time.
MANY BEVERAGES