St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1916-12-09

me down as one who loved his
| fellowmen.a = And close up TO
the top of the Book of Everlast-
ing Life, I believe the Recording
Angel has written in letters of
blazing gold, the name Marion
L. Swords.
"The Brotherhood of Elks have
three cardinal principles, which
are also the cardinal virtues of
the brotherhood of man-C Char
|ity, Justice and Brotherly Love.
Judged, my friends, by these
principles, these virtues, Marion
Swords was the greatest Elk in
Elkdom, and prince among
his fellows. - His charity was
boundless as the purple seas. His
sense Of justice embraced friend
and foe, rich and poor. His
brotherly love went out to every
human being with whom he came
in contact.
Marion, we miss you, as
friend, as man, as brother. As
the years roll on in sun and shade
your vacant place will long loom
large in memories mists. Many
festal board will miss the merry
quip, untouched with malice, un-
barbed with envy. Many an or
phan's tear will 60 undried, for
your charities sought mostly the
byways, which others knew not
of. We will all miss the smile,
the hand clasp of help. We'll
miss your leadership in the stress
of fights for civic betterments
the broadminded comaraderie,
which made the stranger in our
midst feel at home; the ability to
make two laughs grow where on
" one grew before, for you be-
lieyed in the sentiment of the
verse:
"Oh laughter, divine daughter Of
joy,
Make dimples enough in the
cheeks of the world
To catch and hold and glorify
all the tears of grief.
when the mystic hour of III
strikes, many an Elk eye moistens
at thought of some beloved broth
er or frien dwho has passed to
the great beyond, but for you, my
friend, each hour of the day and
night is mystic hour, when some
fond recollection comes unbidden
to our mind.
"When / took my last look at
you, my friend, lying calm. cold,
but majestic even in death, | felt
you had but wrapped the drap-.
cry of you couch about you and
laid down to pleasant dreams, +
and thus ale your friends con
soled. For of yourself, we know
that "after life's ftful fever you
sleep well, = out in Gods acre un-
der the oaks and pines, waiting
for that great day, when, we are
convinced, the Master will greet
your great heart and soul with,
Well done, good and faithful
servant, enter into thy reward. 4
1--WE who loved Marion Swords
have no apologies to make for
that love.
{. The night has thousand eyes
And the day but one,
Yet the light of the bright world
dies
With the dying sun.
:" The mind has "a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one,
Yet the light of a whole life dies,
When love is done.
s'And love of such one as he
was.
cas- for ourselves, we can, as
yet, but realize that the Lion OF
st. Landry politics has gone that
the keystone of the arch has fal-
len; that the leader OF white
democracy, the leader whom some
of us have always followed, and
whom all of us have sometime
followed, has passed away. The
roses will bloom again in the
springtime, the forget-me-nots
will cover the mound of earth
over all that's earthly Of Marion
Swords, but Swords. the leader
Swords, the loved friend, is gone
forever. There remains for us
but to catch from the reflection
of his life and deds, athe insplra-
ton to high resolve. You
may break, you may shatter, the
vase If you will, > but the fra
GRANGE of the rose of LOYALTY and
fealty will cling to it still. There
the unsullied record of
the leader whose death but
crowned his life; Of the leader