The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-05-14

VI "iahd Cnancellor ThompsOn, Cap
ltal City Lodge No. /, West Virginia
NO. so, Phyllis WheAtley Court No.
i and Eureka Court No. 35, and the
friends and admirers of the late
Grand Chancellor, S.>>W. Starks, fill
| ed the <. Of P. hall to it's capacity,
sunday afternoon, andlistened to ap-
| propr1ate exercises in commemora-
tlon OF the deceased leader.
| The services we're begun with q
] hymn by choir composed Of Miss
es Jones, Clinton ana Cobb and
Messrs. James, DeHonney and Cuz-
zens-the last named directing.
| Prof. H. B. Rice, Chancellor com
mander of Capital City, invoked d.
vine blessing, after which the min
tleth Psalm was read resDopsively
| by the Master of Ceremonies, Prof.
@. w. Boyd, and the Congregation.
| Ihe choir sang a beautiful anthem
which was followed by the eulogy
! pronounced by President ]. McHenry
Jones, OF the West Virginia Insti-
| tute. Mr.. Jones said in part:
| Honored Master Of Ceremonies.
l am here at the REQUEST or tho
Pythian Fraternity sof this cttv 70
speak few words in commendation
or the life and labors of our lately
deceased friend ard brother, Sam
uel w. Starks. could have ear
nestly desired to be excused from
| this duty and that some other BROTH
er less affected by the suddenness
OF his death, be asked to bespcak
his virtues
He must have known and loved
MIN less than l have known and
| loved him, who can; at this early
date, before we fully. comprehend
that we hayetldst hin0 forever, before
the' FIRST shook e., his death.
SHasEved Sa9Ssn rs. rs. has 1Raeasaed away.
! oefore the thoughts which
filled our minds when we went
up the hill with martial tread and
solemn mien to lay him under the
SOIL he loved 80 we'll, has grown
d1m--he must have known and low
ed him less than I have done who
can come here quite yet, and calmly
| and philosophically talk over the
marvellous secrets, the hidden sour
@es OF power, the undisputed control
Of men, the unostentations direction
OF great affairs, which he so fully
possessed
l. 1t seems to me that these first
Ihours should be given to grief, but
after all a memorial exercise is in it.
self form OF public mourning. In
the life Of the deceased was vindi
Gated the greatness Of real goodness
and the goodness OF real greatness.
he taught us how to love truth and
yet be charitable, how to hate wrong
Wlthout desp1stng the wrong doer..
f1ls life work Illuminated the Lea +.
en- sent postulate, that truth is so
broad that little Of it may be found
IN every system and among every
| people.
| samuel w. Starks was born March
| II, 1865, less than a month before
the surrender Of Lee at Appomattox
! he may therefore be justly said 20
| represent fully the possibilities 0f
| the New Negro. He was born poor.
put not Graded In poverty. Riches
and poverty are relative terms, a
man well Off among the Fegee Is
landers, might be considered O. beg.
gar on the streets, Of New York or
chicago. Negroes are usually not
rich, but few of them, Judging bv
the standards Of the race, are in any
sense poverty stricken, 1t is hardly
| possible to be as poor in West Vir-
Rinia breathing It's free air, 10y
Ing Its manhood rights, and looking
up at It's towering mountains hiding
thelr knarled heads in itS blue sky,
as 1T Is In the crowded slums and
disease infected by-ways of the great
cities. In this sense therefore, 8.
| w. Starks, like the most Of US, WAS
born poor bit not in penury. f"
| In the broadcast meaning OF the
! term, Mr.. Starks would not be COO
sidered an educated man, and yet
no one who observed the working Ct
his logical mind would dare consider
thim uneducated. In his youth be
| received such training as the com
mon schools Of this city offered
colored child. have often hear,3
him regret that he did not receive
more education, but in my heart |
never shared that regret. His keen
original mind might have peAn
stunned, his natural man1iness
might have been blighted, his sim
pie nature might have been soiled,
with more Of education, for schools
sometimes polish pebbles and dim
diamonds.
Sir Walter Scott left school that
he might learn how to think, and
thus enrich the literary world with
the wonderful creations Of his pen.
He might have continued in
the university and after his gradu-