My friend and your friend, John Sidney Harrison died
yesterday morning at the meridian of his life, a martyr to his profession and a
slave to his patrons.
Words less strong that these would not convey the fullness
of the deeds he performed, nor the arduous labors he wrought nor the
sacrificial life he gave as an agency of ministration to those whom he saved.
For 14 years he lived and moved among you as one of the
choicer spirits for benefaction and good; and no spoken words nor written
eulogy of mien are needful to convince you that he was born of heroic mold and
carried within his breast the burnished character of true manliness and a heart
of pure gold.
I regard his passing away as nothing less than a calamity to
this neighborhood and these people whom he served with a fidelity seldom
equaled and never excelled; and I fear will be long, long years before the like
of him will be seen in your midst again.
Constant in service, faithful to duty, unmindful of his own
physical comfort or personal pleasure, he toiled during the heat of day and
amid the shadows of night, and wearied not, helping as best he could with heart
and hand to comfort and soothe the sorrows and the afflictions of his
fellowman.
He was abundant in his labors and heroic in his sacrifice,
magnanimous in his charity and generous to a fault, till even in the final
count when his over…(page is torn)…
Relief to the suffering he was doomed to bear. Association
with him 14 years and knowing him in the fullness and completeness of his
character as perha0ps none other knew quite so well, I can add my testimony
that his life was without reproach and his character without a stain.
Pure in thought and pure in deed, the memory of him will
ever be like the aroma of some sweet flower or the gentle smile of a tender
child.
I shall sadly miss him and so will you, but let us hope with
an unbroken faith that God has called him unto his own and upon his head has
placed a worthy and royal crown.
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