The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1907-05-11


But has one vacant chair.
To you, esteemed Sovereigns, would
say that on this occasion am reminded
of the words of Gray, when he said:
"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart oace pregnant with celestial IRE;
Hands that the rod OF the empire have swayed,
Or walked to ecstacy the living Tyre"
am not familiar enough with the life
of the deceased to picture it to your
mind, but were familiar with the same,
I would never attempt such task, but
would say, as Anthony has said:
ssI come to bury Caesar, not to praise him;
The evil that men do lives after them.
The good is oft inferred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar"
But this much will I tell you of the
deceased: He was poor in this world g
goods, and the head of family. He
knew that with his death his family
would be dependent on the little that he
and they might have earned and by
judicious economy put aside for rainy
day, and he also knew that this little,
no matter how large it might grow,
would never leave them in the condition
that he had pictured to his mind in fan
tastic dreams. With this condition
staring him in the face, what do we find
our esteemed Sovereign doing? 1t is
natural to presume that he turned to
the insurance proposition and came to
the conclusion that the w. O. w. would
suit his purpose best. A cheap insur-
ance and a grand fraternal order. Lit
tie did he know that, like Thesis of old,
he had gone through a labyrinth, un-
like Thesis, in search of monster, but
the greatest fraternal order known to
the world, which he found when he
chose the w. o. w., and with no guild
ing string but that of Providence.
l am informed by his friends that,
after having been admitted into this
order, years rolled by before God, in
His mercy, willed that his end should
come to pass, and quietly and slowly,
like fading day, on an autumn's even
ing, did his soul fly from its temporary
abode to grander and more magnifi-
cent home, in the presence of his Maker,
feeling that after his death his family
would be protected by an insurance
policy, and that his widow, should she
need any further assistance, might call
on us, his brethren, and that we would
do for her all that lay in our power, and,
in that way, his mind was at ease, and
another otherwise unhappy death made
happy.
History will not tell of his acts. Poets
will not sing his praises. 1t is true thai
name, but for this monument. would be
forgotten to the coming generation.
would, however, sooner be that escaped
convict, Jean Vatican, as pictured to us
by Hugo, than be Napoleon, in all his
greatness and power. at the battle o1
Austerlitz; nay, would sooner be John
Alvin, buried in this little graveyard.
and my name unknown to the world
than have been Caesar when he sent
that laconic message to the Roman Sen
ate of 81 came, l saw, / overcame"
Buried, as he is, he knows, as we know
that no nations trembled when he spoke
that no widows and orphans were made
to satisfy some petty and selfish am
bitions that might have lurked in his
mind. Greater and more admired shoulo
be the life of this man than two thirds
of the characters we read of in history
O, i'll were only Milton or Shake
speare, if the god of poetry would only
recognize me as poet, would sing in
rhyme of none others but those that
lived as John Alvin did-in his quiet
home surrounded by his family and
loved by his neighbors.
With these few remarks, will close
by hoping that God may in his gre at
ness and his splendor receive him from
us, and may we who, having done all in
our power for him, remember the deal
one left behind him, and if We do thl s.
we have done all that our order, oul
country and our God required OF u.s..
The follewing-named soyereigns O.
the Pearlington camp were present: Bat
Carver, Forest Summers, VIM. Stray
ham, Solomon Macarthur, Armand Gar
reau, George Talbert, Rene Sacedate
Douglas S. Osborn, Jesse Knight, Chas
Farr, A. G. Casanova, Samuel McCar :
ty, Peter Lloyd, A. D. Bennett, Toulme
Holleman, S. X. Russ, Simmons Deve'
reaux, layton Russ, Albert Russ, Arls'
tide Carver, John Odom, Robt. Stocker
Jesse Lott, j. U. Murphy, Putnam Dor
sew, John Favre, Emile Asher, Harry
Hall, Jr., VIM. Parent, Willis Little
Christian Koch, George Parker, opn
Beyer, John Boyer, Jim Miller.
The ladies present from Pearlngtof
were: Mrs. Asa Hursey and daughter
Mrs. C. D. Orr and children, Mrs. Jesse
Knight and children, Mrs. Aristide Ca r
yer and family, Mrs. D. H. Snow ant
family. Mrs. Putnam Dorsey, Mrs. Sol
ONION Macarthur and children, MRS
Charley Farr and child, Mrs. w. w
Deyereaux and children. Young iadie
with escorts: Misses Osborn, Misses c
and E. Casanova, Miss Irene Carver
Misses Parker, Miss May and Rebecc'
Koch. Miss M. Devereaux, Miss Ami
N;so Martha Royet, Mis-