Cg« (g) o& Cg) cgj eg) o& Cg Cg) t>& Cg) # £g) (go <2? C§3 eg) cSa C&) 0?<3 eg) cS& o?o cS) o?« C&3 0?<3 t>?« Africa's ©rllrafp TO THE LATE Mwtyap ifntrg IHrNfal 3tant?r BY J. P. BALOGUN-RICHARDS, B.D. Principal of the A. M. E. Seminary. Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa ■ Printed By THE A M. E. BOOK CONCERN. 6J1 Pine Street. Phil*.. Pa. Afrtra's ®ritrafr TO THE LATE HtHljoji i§nix\t lirNfal (FttnuT BY J. P. BALOGUN-RICHARDS, B.D. Principal of the A. M. E. Seminary. Freetown, Sierra Leone West Africa Eulogy delivered at Memorial Service held in honor of the late- Rev. Henry McNeal Turner, D.D., LL.D., D.C.L., in New Zion A. M. E. Church, Pademba Road, Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Sunday, August 29, 1915, at 3 p. m., "The prophets, do they live forever?" Zachariah i, 5: RT. REV. HENRY McNEAL TURNER, D. D., D. C. L. The First A. M. E. Bishop to visit Africa in the Interest of African Methodism Africa's Tribute to the Late Bishop Henry McNeal Turner Sad news from America! Bishop Turner is dead! What magic charms the name recalls! What memories it awakens in the minds of those who have learned to love and revere the late Bishop Turner. Uncover your heads, ye 800,000 sons and daughters of African Meth¬ odism, and stand in holy reverence at the shrine of the departed and ever-to-be-lamented, Rt. Rev. Henry McNeal Turner, D. D., LL. D„ D. C. L.! For indeed "a prince and a great man is fallen this day in Israel." This sad and terribla news which has sent a thrill of shock of horror throughout the length and breadth of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, reminds us, my friends, of the uncertainty of life and the cer¬ tainty of death ; it reminds us force¬ fully of the fact that all men, how¬ ever good, however great, however learned, however exalted, or how¬ ever bad, lowly, ignorant and hum¬ ble, all men must die. And right here we are remind¬ ed of those trenchant lines of the poet: "Death is the crown of life; * * * Were death denied, poor men would live in vain ; Were death denied, even fools would wish to die." Thus sang the poet Young under meditative soliloquy. The depth of its truth can only be realized by a calm and dispassionate meditation on the impartial operations of the tragic hands of death. Death, indeed, is a mystery; a mys¬ tery which puts an end to life's mis¬ eries ; death is a mystery, a mystery which fanciful theories cannot solve —the greatest mystery confronting man. It is as great a mystery as life itself, a mystery that has its counterpart only in the Resurrection. It is no wonder, then, that St. Paul, in such sublime and eloquent lan¬ guage, pointed out to the Corinthian Churches the mysteries and glories of Death and the Resurrection. Time will not permit us to deal with the passage of Scripture read at the beginning of our remarks, seeing that we have one of the most crowded lives in the history of the world to sketch before you, a task which at best we can but imperfect¬ ly perform. So we shall simply pro¬ ceed with the object of this after¬ noon's service. Eighty-two years ago, there wras born near Newberry Court House, in the State of South Carolina, of the United States of America, a precoci¬ ous infant, that was predestined to play one of the most remarkable dramas of life that was ever acted 011 the stage of human development, and which has easily rivalled that of Napoleon, Washington or Bismarck. He was the oldest child of Howard and Sarah Turner, but as he was of Negro parentage he was denied those advantages which education affords, and therefore became "a victim of those pernicious and criminal laws which forbid the education of the Negro," in the Southern States of America, and, perforce, resorted to devious schemes whereby he might obtain an education. Here his won¬ derful precocity began to assert it¬ self. 11 is said that he learned the alphabet at nine years of age, with the help of j-n old Webster spelling book, and the kindly assistance of an old but unlettered Negro, whom Na¬ ture seemed to have endowed with an unusual amount of sound, com¬ mon sense, and what we may call "natural intelligence." Young Turner, by patiently spelling.the words (as they were divided into syllables in the spelling book) the old unletter¬ ed Negro would carefully pronounce them, and little Henry would repeat them after him, till each word was fully pronounced and learned. In this way the future bishop of the A. M. E. Church soon mastered the in¬ tricacies and mysteries of the spell- 6 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER ing book. At the age of 15 he was employed as a janitor and general messenger in a white lawyer's office at Abbeyville Court House. His te¬ nacious and retentive memory was such an object of curiosity that he very soon attracted the attention of his employers and won, first, their esteem, then their respect, and, best of all, their patronage. To them it was, naturally speaking "something marvelous that a common Negro should have such wonderful memory; in short, they regarded him as a prodigy"; and, indeed, so he was. These good and kind hearted law¬ yers, moved by an irresistible im¬ pulse, in defiance of ^he laws of the State, taught young Henry Turner— who proved himseslf a very apt pu¬ pil—different and kindred subjects, including Arithmetic, Reading, Geog¬ raphy, History, Astronomy, Hygiene and Anatomy; even Theology and the Rudiments of Law. With these God-sent early advantages, he con¬ tinued to increase his store of knowl¬ edge by studying and reading every¬ thing that came within his reach. He later studied Latin, Greek, Hebrew, German, English Grammar and ad¬ vanced Theology under competent teachers and professors of these re¬ spective languages. .Who is there in this large audience, yea, ho is there in this wide, wide world, that can "measure the influ¬ ences that work in the impulses and throbbings of his own heart?" In¬ deed, we may truly say of Bishop Turner, as was said of some one: "Gifted with a precocious, brilliant and versatile mind, and with an ex¬ traordinary enthusiasm," Bishop Turner "always impressed himself upon those with whom he came in contact. Having lacked excellent op¬ portunities for early culture, espe¬ cially at home, and continuing by as¬ siduous study, even while engaged at work on the farm, to gather in¬ formation from every source, he ear¬ ly became recognized as a young man of brilliant promise." Endowed by Nature with just enough of fancy and imagination for the creation of ideals, ambitious enough to build them high, gifted with taste enough to make them sym¬ metrical and beautiful, optimistical enough to be confident of their re¬ alization, he was just fitted to Jive in an element of thought, feeling, sentiment and enthusiasm; and the ideal and poetic form of it, was his realm of conscious activity—yet he was an ideal dreamer, but was in¬ tensely practical. On the farm he did not shun the boiling heat of sum¬ mer, nor the icy cold of winter; but was the most effective worker. His motto seemed to have been: "Idealize the material; put beauty in¬ to the practical; fall in love with your work; and then worship it with your intensest endeavor." Chance, fortune and fate, strictly and philosophically, may have no ex¬ istence in nature and reason—and may be but expressions for human ignorance of cause; but to these, in the common acceptance of those terms, we owe much of what we are. Thus into the pathway of life's ac¬ tivities walked Henry McNeal Tur¬ ner, while yet the flowers of youth bent their dewy lips to kiss his feet, and all the clouds of life's rosy morn¬ ing were turned into gold by the alchemy of youthful hope and youth¬ ful romance. He was inspired by the consciousness that admiring friends watched his course, rejoicing in every success, excusing every failure and sympathizing in every difficulty. Perhaps nobody ever indulged brighter hopes for the future, and few with better reason. It was the dream of his life to acquire a scholas¬ tic career, and by dint of industry and application to take an honorable stand in his classes, to win the friendship and love of his classmates, to distinguish himself in college ora¬ tory and to lay broad and firm the foundation of future success and use¬ fulness. You may smile, my friends, at the wide range of his dreams, but "he vrho smiles at the ambitious dreams of a boy may smile at a power which it will require the ever¬ lasting years to contain, and the om¬ niscience of God to measure. But fate, sad and disappointing, woke him from these bright dreams, by strewing across his path, difficul¬ ties and obstacles consesquent on American racial prejudices, and throwing into chaos all those well- laid plans, and snatching from hope all the glowing brushes with which he had painted the future. But as the stars shine brightest when night wraps her curtains round the earth, so young Henry's traits shone more resplendent in the gloom of disap¬ pointment and adversity. Stopping not to murmur or repine, he only modified his hopes and his ideals to suit his changed condition; and full of confidence he began anew on the ruins of a fallen life-scheme, TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER 7 a grander, a more beautiful, and a more enduring success. This quality of being in any condition sufficient unto one's self, is the highest mark of a really strong and noble spirit. Caius Marius sitting amid the ruins of Carthage was Caius Marius stlil. Bishop Henry McNeal Turner was converted at the age of 15 at Abbey- ville, S. C., in 1848. Five years later lie was licensed to preach. In 1858 he entered the itinerancy of the Af¬ rican Methodist Episcopal Church. In a graphic sketch of his life, by Rev. William J. Simmons, we glean the fact that when Bishop Turner presented himself before the influen¬ tial and intelligent committee for ad¬ mission into the Missouri Conference in 1858, he astounded the learned and philosophical Rev. Dr. (afterward bishop) John Morris Brown, by the breadth of his attainments, the soundness of his reasoning powers, and the originality of his answers. He was received into the deaconate in 1860, by the learned and saintly Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne, and ordained into full priesthood in 1862. By this time the name of the Rev. Henry McNeal Turner had become a houseshold word in almost every "home in America—North, South, East and West. Men were drawn from every direction to his pulpit ministrations; and gradually, step by step, step by step, his fame as a sound and orthodox pulpit orator, a forceful platform speaker and lec¬ turer, his unrivalled fiery eloquence, and his remarkable personality and influence with and over men, soon placed him head and shoulders above his contemporaries. In the pulpit, he preached as few men could preach; on the platform one is almost tempt¬ ed to say, "He spake as never man spake." Bishop Turner, as we have inti¬ mated, was a man of great original¬ ity; and his forceful character, his sincerity in all he said and did, coupled with the power of original¬ ity 'with which he seemed to have been especially endowed, "he said and did things either in regard to Church or State that very few men or no other would have dared to attempt." As a minister of the Gospel and preacher of Jesus Christ, he achieved undoubted success. For through his pastoral and pulpit work, thousands upon thousands flocked to hear his convincing message and burning elo¬ quence, and were constrained to be followers of the meek and lowly Na- zarene. In an address he delivered when resigning the presiding elder¬ ship (which h« had filled for sev¬ eral years) for the pastorate, he said: "Since I have been trying to preach the Gospel, I have had the inestim¬ able pleasure of receiving into the Church on probation 4,318 persons which I can account for, besides some three or four thousand I cannot give any definite account of. And I would guess, for I am not certain, that I have received during and since the war, about 16,000 or 17,000 full mem¬ bers into the A. M. E. Church by change of church relation, making in all nearly 40,000 souls that I have in some manner been instrumental in bringing to religious liberty, and yet I am not quite 39 years old." "But," said he (and here you can catch a glimpse into the true character of the man), "I make no reference to these statistics to have you suppose that I am better than other men who have not been thus successful, for I am only a poor, worthless creature,, and may yet be cast away ; I only men¬ tion these facts to express my pro¬ found gratitude to God for His abun¬ dant favors which have been bestow¬ ed upon me so undeserving." In the earlier and palmy days of his ministerial life, Bishop Turner was known to preach as many as five, six or seven times on a Sunday; and during the week to preach or lec¬ ture on an average of three times a day. It was our privilege to hear him many a time in more recent years lecture and preach with as much fire and vigor four times both Sunday and week days. God seemed to have called him to His work as He did St. Paul, to be a chosen vessel, a messenger to His poor people un¬ der the yoke of slavery and in the shackles of ignorance and supersti¬ tion ; and through his efforts thous¬ ands were won for the Master. Bishop Turner was a man of re¬ markable powers, and wherever he went he made those God-given powr- ers felt. He was, so to speak, a "brand plucked from the burning." Indeed, "so peculiarly was he consti¬ tuted, that in whatever he said or did," says one, "men were forced to admit the strange paradox that they were compelled to agree with him in spite of their differences." The Church was quick to realize his great genius for leadership of men; and in 1876, in the General Conference 8 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER held in Atlanta, Ga., U. S. A., he was elected Business Manager of the A. M. E. Book Concern. So success¬ fully did he manage this department that in the General Conference of St. Louis, Mo., in 1880, he was elected to the high office of the Episcopacy by almost a unanimous ballot—a dis¬ tinction enjoyed neither before nor since by any other Bishop of our great Church, which position he fill¬ ed with honor and credit to himself, his Church and his race. The aptitude with which the good Bishop discharged his multifarious and complex duties was most aston¬ ishing. He seemed to have a knack for doing things, and was never hap¬ pier than when engaged in doing something useful, helpful and good. "He was," says Bishop Cotterel, of the Colored Methodist Church, "a tireless, indefatigable worker," and so he was. At home he worked in¬ cessantly in his office from early morn till (and sometimes after) mid¬ night. He was usually employed in reading, replying to his numerous correspondence through his secre¬ taries, dictating articles for the press, preparing sermons, lectures and ad¬ dresses, writing impassioned editor¬ ials for local and church papers. At the end of a hard day's work in his office, he would invariably go to his garden for exercise. I have often seen him working, hoe in hand, for an hour or two in his kitchen gar¬ den. He took an intense interest in all matters affecting the welfare of the church of his choice. Writing, lecturing, preaching incessantly in its behalf, he labored day and night, in season and out of season, to push for¬ ward the great interests of African Methodism. Indeed, as one admirer said of him, "Next to God, he loved his race and African Methodism." So great was his devotion to this cause that he not only labored zeal¬ ously to extend the borders of the Church in America, but his great big impulsive heart beat so strongly with love for his race, especially Africa, his fatherland, that he crossed the mighty Atlantic no less than three times (1891, 1893 and 1895) to plant, organize and nurture the noble tree of African Methodism in the land of his fathers ; and how well he succeed¬ ed all of you here know full well. His greatest ambition was to visit Africa. Said he to some of us who were students at Morris Brown Col¬ lege, at Atlanta, Ga., in 1899: "White people stole my brothers and sisters and sold them into American slavery. The ambition of my life, the longing of my heart has been to go to Africa, my country, your country, our country. To tread its soil, to breathe its free and untainted atmosphere, to see my free brothers and sisters, who, thank God, have not tasted nor experienced what it is to be slaves. To hear them speak; to have them talk to me,, and that I might have the oppor¬ tunity of telling them of the wonder¬ ful love of the Son of God who died that they might live." And with the- fire of deep gratitude shining from his eyes and his noble face suffused with joy, he added passionately : "And^ thank God my prayers have been answered and my wishes gratified. I have been to Africa—dark, benighted,, but to me dear and beloved Africa., no less than three times, and have been instrumental, through God, not only to organize but to plant the Church of Richard Allen among my beloved people. If I were to die now, . I would be satisfied." There are a goodly number, no doubt, in this congregation, as well as in the community, who still have vivid recollections of Bishop Turner's first visit to Sierra Leone in Novem¬ ber, 1891. The curiosity aroused, the excitement created, the eagerness awakened by the arrival of the Bish¬ op, and the anxiety on the part of the entire populace to see, know and hear this phenomenon of an Amer¬ ican Bishop—and a Negro Bishop at that—can and will not be easily for¬ gotten. From an intellectual, moral and spiritual viewpoint, great things were expected from him, and Bishop Turner ,as the American would say, "filled the bill." The Bishop landed on these shores, for the first time, in November, 1891. And so full was his heart with love, so overflowed was he with joy at the magnitude of the thought of the re¬ alization of his lifelong dreams, and that he was then actually standing on the soil of his dear fatherland, he became so enraptured that, unmind¬ ful of the great crowd that had con¬ gregated at the wharf, and to the astonishment of everybody, he burst into tears. Suddenly the good old bishop solemnly uncovered his head, prostrated himseslf fully on the ground, and reverently kissed the virgin soil of his fatherland. By that noble deed he at once captured the hearts of the people. That, indeed, my friends, was a supreme moment in the life of the TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER 9 great and good Rt. Rev. Henry Mc- Neal Turner. There are only two similar cases of the kind that we know of. That of Columbus kissing the earth on his first landing in American in 1492, and that of the returned British prisoner from Ger¬ many, 1915, kissing English soil im¬ mediately he was landed in England. Neither Columbus nor the disabled British soldier was actuated by that liigh standard of motive—or moral¬ ity—if you please, which actuated Bishop Turner. His sense of patriot¬ ism and duty far outshines the others as the sun eclipses the glow of a lighted candle in open day. Bishop Turner's visit to Sierra Leone marked a new epoch in the church life of the colony; indeed, it added another milestone in the march of the religious and moral advance¬ ment of the people. It awakened new life, opened new possibilities and r e v e a le d to the authorities of the A. M. E. Church in America, as never before, the great obligations they owed to the land of their fath¬ ers. Through his tireless energy, he planted the Church in South Africa, and though he was vigorously op¬ posed at the time by those who thought the steps were rash and un¬ wise, and therefore severely censur¬ ed and criticised the Bishop for ven¬ turing "so far out," yet they lived to see the wisdom of his foresight; and to-day there are no less than five Annual Conferences in West and South Africa. It is said that during one of his visits to Sierra Leone, whilst deliv¬ ering an eloquent and impassioned address on "The Future of the Negro Kace," he suddenly paused and, turn¬ ing around, with his face toward the then little-known Hinderland, and with the vision of a true prophet, de¬ clared as if he were inspired, "I see in yonder dark Hinterland, schools, churches, colleges and uni¬ versities, with their pupils and church members, and students, and doctors, and lawyers, and ministers and me¬ chanics." Do I hear you say, my friends, those were not the words of a proph¬ et? Turn your eyes into the Protec¬ torate, and see if the prophecy of that man of God spoken a little more than 20 years ago, is not being fulfilled; already there are schools and churches and chapels in nearly every important town. We have only to •open our eyes and study the times; who knows what the next twenty-five years will bring? So strong were Bishop Turner's feelings tow-ard and against the ef¬ fects of slavery upon the American Negro, that he openly preached the doctrine of emigration. "He believed that the colored people should re¬ turn to Africa, from whence their ancestors were brought as slaves for the sake of obtaining liberty and true citizens' rights." To this end he wrote, lectured and preached with untiring zeal and persistency. The result was he was criticized and mis¬ understood, but "he cared for none of these things." For he was a man who having satisfied himseslf that a thing "he believed is right, he championed it to the end, regardless of what the struggle cost him, or of the oft-time cutting criticism of friend or foe alike, apologizing for nothing which he believed to be right." Bishop Turner was also a man of very forceful character. He very early learned to overcome difficul¬ ties, and viewing the whole achieve¬ ment of so full and crowded a life, we can readily see the kind of man he was; the great strength of his mind, the comprehensiveness of his faculties and the greatness of his in¬ tellect. And comparing his lack of proper facilities for early education with what he afterwards achieved, he appears before us "like a Cornish diamond polished not by the lapidary but by Nature." It has been said that "some men are born great, others achieve great¬ ness and still others have greatness thrust upon them." In studying the wonderful life of this truly wonderful and remarkable character, we cannot but discover the fact that the late Rt. Rev. Henry McNeal Turner, D. D., LL. D., etc., was born great and did, inspite of adverse circumstances, achieve greatness. But to say that greatness was thrust upon him is an unpardonable fallacy. Rather, it would be nearer the truth to say that the world's encomiums were heaped upon him, because it recognized the supreme quality and character o£ his life and work, and the unparalleled and diversified achievements of his indomitable personality. But what, it may be asked, constitutes great¬ ness? Is it the mere accomplish¬ ment, nay, the achievements of life's purposes and aims? Is it the gain¬ ing of the flitting acclamations of a fickle populace? No, it is none of 10 TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER these. Greatness is the losing of one's self for the good and welfare of the whole. It was this peculiarly rare quality that characterized the life of Jesus Christ as a truly great life, and it is this self-same quality that was the motive power in the life of the Rt. Rev. Henry McNeal Tnr- ner, and which made him the truly great man that he was. And in Bish¬ op Turner's life history, we are un¬ consciously led to recall those preg¬ nant words of Shakespeare : "What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason ! How infinite in faculties ! In form how admirable ! in action like an angel! in apprehension how like a God!'* Yes, my friends, all these qualities were merged in the life of that great and good man. Bishop L. H. Holsey, of the C. M. E. Church, in an eloquent tribute to the memory of Bishop Turner, says : "It cannot be far from the truth when we assert that the name of Bishop Turner presents to our con¬ sideration the greatest and most re¬ markable personality that the Negro race has ever produced. Of course all the history of the planet, with its teeming millions of people, languages and tongues, cannot now be read or deciphered; the broken tables and hidden threads that yoke the dead past with the present decade, and their activities, cannot now be read, weighed or measured. Neither do we know how many and what great men may have acted in the drama of life, or played on the stage of the ages. Neither have we any sure and accu¬ rate method by which we may roll back the pages of history and analyze and dissect those great racial charac¬ teristics that have lived and played their parts upon the face of the cen¬ turies. Sweeping through the whole scope of the periodicalities of the past, with the keenest occultism, we linger in the courts and palaces of great kingdoms and kings. We doff our hats in the presence of the mighthy Sesortries, and tread softly in the temple of the priests of Osiris and deeply pierce the veil of Isis, but when we step backward through the span of thirty centuries, measur¬ ed by the awful flight of three hun¬ dred decades, we reach the sublime halo of modern life in which we find but one—Only one—"H. McNeal Tur¬ ner, the true, the noble, and the brave." Most people upon hearing Bishop Turner's pronounced and advanced views upon vital questions of the day, would often say, "The Bishop lives a hundred years ahead of his day." Be that as it may—one thing is cer¬ tain, he had little or no regard for precedents when a certain object was to be attained. If he believed that the best interest of the Church and people would be served by bringing that thing about, he made a way. He was a man of very ruggel and al¬ most uncouth exterior. But like an unpolished diamond whose rough appearance belies its true and actual beauty and value, so beneath that rugged, uncouth and iron form of the late Bishop Turner, there lay concealed the innate qualities of the heart which come only from a pure and unselfish nature, and flow from the innermost recesses of the soul. "He was not," says Dr. Bowen, "What we may call a scholar in the scholastic sense of the term. He had not the discipline and scholasticism of the schools—nor did his mind show the logical training of technical cul¬ ture. His day was a dark day, and school advantages were impossible for his kind. But he had the mind that grasped everything in sight; he accumulated a store of knowledge that surprised bookmen ; he read vol¬ uminously, digested thoroughly every thing he read, and was capable to discuss upon learned subjects with an acumen and fulness of speech that astonished the so-called schoolmen of his day. He was bigger than a book." Aside from these considerations, H. McNeal Turner was greater than a fearless leader or a mighty man in books or a great Bishop. "He was a 'man.' Yes, a 'man' in the fullest sense of the word, which is bigger and far more comprehensive than a 'gentleman.'" To those who did not know him, he appeared difficult of approach and a man of iron. His sternness was not in his heart, or in his treatment of men. His rough¬ ness was all on the outside. He lov¬ ed men and he was a simple brother at heart. But Bishop Turner is gone! He is no more with us! In answer to the great query, "The prophets, do they live forever?" he has in his stentorian and trumpet-like voice an¬ swered, "No! as they have gone to dwell with thee, I, too, am coming to join the great white throng, and to sing forever the praises of the Lamb.." Yes, my fellow countrymen,, Bishop Turner is gone! The greatest Negro of the age—of any age is gone L TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER 11 "Who shall take his place? in the Church? in the race? in the Nation?" is the great question that confronts us as Africans, yes, as a part of the entire Negro race. May God raise up an Elisha on whom may fall the mantle of Elijah. What can we say to adequately merit such a life, or even do the smallest justice to such a worthy soul—a most exem¬ plary character! We feel our incom¬ petency for so great a task; and the sense of the responsibility weighs heavily upon us. Had I the cedars of Lebanon and were to make a pen thereof, and the gold of Ophir and make a nib there¬ of, and the waters of Jordan and make some ink therewith—and the inspiration of a Shakespeare, and the fluency of a Macauley, I would but poorly portray to your satisfaction the innumerable qualities of heart, life and character of Rt. Rev. Henry McNeal Turner—our departed hero— whose death we are met to commem¬ orate this afternoon. For no writer, however gifted, no orator, however eloquent, can within the narrow con¬ fines of a book, or the limited time of a eulogy, say all that could be said of this, the most remarkable charac¬ ter in the twentieth century—Bishop Henry McNeal Turner. "The pro¬ phets, do they live forever?" In the language of Shakespeare, he realized fully, up to the hour of his death, that— "Nothing in his* life Became him like the leaving it; he died As one who had been studied in his death To throw away the dearest thing he owned As 'twere a careless trifle." Yes, my friends, is it not true, only too true that— "The dead! the sainted dead! Why should we weep At the last change their settled fea¬ tures take? At the calm impress of that holy sleep Which care and sorrow never more shall break." Let us all endeavor, therefore, to emulate the life of this noble man— devote ourselves at the altar of hu¬ manity and truth, and strive that we may— "So live, that when the summons comes to join The innumerable caravan that moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death. We go not like a quarry slave at night Scourged to his dungeon, but sus¬ tained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach our graves Like one that draws the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleas¬ ant dreams." I wish time would allow me to read to you the eloquent editorial of the Christian Recorder " our official Church paper, of May 20, 1915, but let me read just one quotation : "While this mortal frame shall de¬ cay, that which is dust returning to the earth that gave it, the spirit of H. McNeal Turner is not dead. The influence of H. McNeal Turner shall pass far down the centuries to in¬ spire and bless men. As long as black men fight for freedom, they shall fight with and in remembrance of him; as long as the A. M. E. Church shall operate in Africa, it shall remember H. McNeal Turner. (To this, we, as Sierra Leoneans, say Amen!) Indeed, as long as the A. M. E. Church shall exist, and even when it shall pass away to merge into a higher and stronger Christianity, the life of this great man shall be felt. Bishop Henry McNeal Turner is im¬ mortal in heaven, immortal on earth. Like his Master, he served, and the record of his service is in the exist¬ ence of our great institutions. Not only the Turner colleges, the Turner chapels, the Turner Seminary, but in the very warp and woof of our Church is his name and personality enshrined. "Did he have faults? Faults? Of course he had faults, many. Of course he made mistakes, many. He was human, and his faults were only the background from which his vir¬ tues shone forth more resplendently. His faults were the faults of all strong men, of a Moses, a David, a Napoleon. We do not honor him for his faults. We honor him for his service. For his faults pale into in¬ significance when his achievements are put beside them. And the world might well bear with them for the profit of his character." TRIBUTE TO THE LATE BISHOP TURNER I am done. I am conscious that I have only touched the borders or fringes of the life of this great man. And in bringing this imperfect eu¬ logy to a close, I feel that I cannot do so in better language than that of Rev. Dr. Joseph M. Evans, Secre¬ tary of the Michigan Annual Con¬ ference, who said "inter alia," "Thus passes the only Henry McNeal Tur¬ ner this world has ever known." The nurse in the hospital in which he died characterized him as "a mod¬ ern Julius Caesar." Many others have paid and many more will pay the late Bishop Turner high compli¬ ment, but we dare to say, none will fully describe him. He was an un¬ knowable, indescribable wonder. He was certainly one of, if not the most remarkable men physically, mentally and spiritually that the Creator of us all ever gave being to. Complex, yea, many-sided, was he in his ex¬ traordinary make-up. Beyond hu¬ man comprehension in the unfathom- ableless of his wondrous nature, his powers of physical and mental en¬ durance were wonderful. The her¬ culean accomplishments of this mighty chieftain, this indomitable hero, this man of exceptional endow¬ ments will bedeck the pages of his¬ tory through all the ages to come. No histosy of the important doings of the world from the day Henry Mc¬ Neal Turner was born to the day of his death, would be complete without chronicling his deeds. Let the young men of to-day light their torches of inspiration for development and effi¬ cient service, at the altar fires of this noble life, so suddenly ended, but nevertheless so grand and sublime in its inner workings and real worthy and go forth determined under God, to carry forward to the full measure of their consecrated ability the great work of our fallen prince and chief¬ tain. "Peace to his silent dust." We cannot, as we said, deal fully with the life—the crowded life—of our beloved bishop. Our pen is too futile, and our tongue inadequate to give a fitting eulogy to his useful and God-like life. We therefore of¬ fer our heartfelt sympathy to the surviving relatives. To the dear wi¬ dow, whose loving heart is heavy with grief, and bleeding from the deep wounds of the affliction she has been called to suffer. To the two sons—who have endeav¬ ored, each in his own way, to emu¬ late the worthy life of a worthy sire. To the hosts of grandchildren and other members of the family who feel very keenly the loss of one whom they love. To the revered Bench of Bishops for the death of their lifelong leader and brother. To the race—yes, the entire Negro race the world over—in America, in Africa and in the islands of the Seas, for the irreparable loss of a fearless champion of their cause. And we pray that God may in His own good way, comfort all these hearts in this, their hour of frief. "Silently sleep, thou sainted one, until the dawning c»f an eternal day, when glory and immortality shall fully claim thee as their own." Amen.