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 A MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 PUBLIC SERVICE, 
 
 1879=88. 
 
A MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 PUBLIC SEBVICE, 
 
 1879=88. 
 
 ■>o)r>\ yrS r 
 
•C4-Cs 
 
 Printed for the Committee of Arrangements, 
 
 By Lucas, Richardson & Co., 
 
 Charleston, S. C. 1889. 
 
teis edition of the prockedings, 
 
 upon the occasion of the unveiling, this civic memorial, 
 
 is respectfully dedicated to the 
 
 Rev. OHARLKS S. VEDDER, D. D.. 
 
 as an expression 
 
 of the grateful appreciation of the committee ok citizens, 
 
 in charge of the ceremonies, 
 
 for his felicitous address in preskntino the bust. 
 
 December 19th, 1888. 
 
|n E^srlasting Marble. 
 
 A Grateful People's Tribute to an Honored Ser- 
 vant — The Courtenay Memorial Bust Unveiled at 
 the City Hall, on the First Anniversary of his 
 Retirement from the Mayor's Office — Dr. Porter^s 
 Fmpressive PrxVy^er— Dr. Vedder's Eloquent Presen- 
 tation Address — Valentine's Chaste and Elegant 
 Art Work. 
 
 THE Courtenay Memorial IJiist, the tribute of 
 hundreds of citizens of Charleston to their 
 honored ex-Mayor, was unveiled Avith appro- 
 priate ceremonies in the City Hall last night, 
 in the presence of a large and appreciative audience. 
 
 One year ago yesterday Hon. Wm. A. Courtenay 
 retired from the office of Mayor which he had filled for 
 eight years. The occasion was doubly interesting, 
 inasmuch as it commemorated this anniversary. Upon 
 his retirement there was a general expression of public 
 opinion that his long and faithful service to the city 
 should be recognized in some appropriate way. An 
 impromptu meeting was held in December, US87, at 
 the Carolina Savings Bank, and after a full interchange 
 of views, it was thought best that the sentiments of the 
 
people sliould be fixed in imperishable marble, and the 
 bust which now adorns the Mayor's office — the office in 
 which Captain Courtenay labored, will speak to future 
 generations, the admiration and respect of the citizens 
 of Charleston for him. 
 
 The following gentlemen constituted the committee 
 which had charge of the subscription lists, the pre- 
 paration of the bust, and the invitations to the cere- 
 mony : Messrs — 
 
 Geo. W. Williams. John S. Rigc^s. 
 
 a. toomer pohteh, 1). l>. a. johnson. 
 
 A. C. Kaufman. 
 
 Long before the hour appointed the guests began to 
 arrive, and soon the Council Chamber was thronged 
 with ladies and gentlemen, among whom were many 
 of the most prominent citizens of Charleston, represent- 
 ing the professional, commercial, industrial and educa- 
 tional life of Charleston. 
 
 The Mayor, and a very full a'ttendance of the 
 Aldermen of the city, as also, the officials of the City 
 Government and many members of the various Boards 
 of Commissioners of Public Institutions were also 
 present. 
 
 As the historic bells in St. Michael's tower chimed 7 
 o'clock, the wide folding-doors between the Mayor's 
 office and the Council Chamber were thrown open, and 
 Mr. George W. Williams, chairman of the committee, 
 stepped forward and introduced Rev. A. Toomer 
 Porter, D. D., who was to open the ceremonies with 
 prayer. 
 
Having raised his hand toward heaven. Dr. Porter 
 said: 
 
 Almighty God, from whom all good things proceed, 
 we ask Thy aid to all who are in authority everywhere, 
 that they may regard themselves to be Thy servants, 
 and to do Thy will. We thank Thee for such of those 
 who are chosen to govern who endeavor to use their 
 position not for selfish ends, but for the general weal. 
 We ask Thy favor and approval of the purpose which 
 has brought us together, and pray that this Memorial of 
 Public Service may be an incentive to others to merit 
 so marked a testimonial from their contemporaries. 
 We commend Thy servant, and all our loved city to 
 Thy love and care, and ask Thy continued blessing on 
 us all for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 Dr. Porter's prayer finished, Katie Buhler, a bright, 
 pretty little girl from the Orphan House, ten years old, 
 who had been standing beside the long curtain which 
 covered the bust, drew the cord, and slowly the fair 
 proportions of the marble came into view. A murmur 
 of surprise and satisfaction rose from the crowd 
 when they saw the features of the ex-Mayor in 
 chiseled marble standing out in bold relief from the 
 wall behind it. 
 
Mr. Williams again stepped forward and introduced 
 Rev. C. S. Vedder, D. D., who spoke as follows : 
 
 Mr, Mayor : It is a peculiar privilege to be associated, 
 even in the humblest way, with an occasion so signifi- 
 cant and auspicious as this, and I respond with alacrity 
 to the request of the Committee of Citizens, to represent 
 them in the ceremony which it contemplates. They 
 have kindly said that they expect and desire but a 
 very few words — doubtless because they know that the 
 words must be either very few or very many, and they 
 are willing rather to risk that they should be inadequate 
 than unending. The embarrassment of the occasion is 
 the fruitfuluess of its suggestions — the difficulty of 
 deciding where to begin, what line of detail to pursue, 
 and how to end. That embarrassment, however, by its 
 very greatness, suggests the only relief from itself — 
 repression of all attempt to meet it. There is no need 
 in this presence — City and State, to recite the reasons 
 for the present assemblage, and the impressive office 
 which it is to discharge. It would reflect upon the 
 occasion to imply that it needed to be explained. 
 Nothing, then, remains for me but the suggestion, and 
 not the indulgence, of thoughts which it prompts. 
 
 It is always a noteworthy event when a people testify, 
 in some enduring and seemly manner, their appreciation 
 of signal faithfulness in the discharge of official trust. 
 Their recognition of eminent service is only less honor- 
 able to them than to him whom they seek to honor. It 
 reveals such an estimate of worth as argues affinity with 
 it. It has, moreover, its incentive and inspiration for 
 
all others in public station to rise to the height of their 
 opportunity and duty 
 
 But it is almost the rule of the abiding recognition of 
 eminent service that it comes too late to achieve its 
 best results. It delays beyond the time which immedi- 
 ately links the acknowledgment with the fact acknowl- 
 edged. Often, indeed, the testimonial tarries until he 
 whom it would recognize lias passed beyond the possi- 
 bility and need of earthly recognition. The reason of 
 this is obvious. We are almost never just to cotempo- 
 raries. We need to get far from them before we can 
 measure their true proportions. Not unfrequently we 
 must wait until partisanships and personal feelings shall 
 sink to their native insignificance, as seen over vistas of 
 distance,' or, indeed, over sleeping dust. An admired 
 Roman poet found this to be the fact of his era, as it is 
 of ours and all others. His words, freely translated and 
 slightly changed, read: 
 
 "He that excels the achievement of his days. 
 Is apt to blitvl beholders with his blaze; 
 But Avhcn he's gone, and quite extinct tJie fire. 
 The man they knew, and prized not, they admire." 
 
 But it is the rare felicity of this occasion, that it 
 purposes and provides an imperishable memorial of one 
 who has but now laid down the heavy burden of office — 
 one who is still with us, to hear the grateful " well- 
 done ' of the city which he served so long and well, 
 with such energy and enthusiasm, such acceptance and 
 assiduity; one who has not escaped, as he never shrank 
 from, the antagonism inevitable before great force of 
 character and unconquerable will, in the discharge of 
 public duty, and in overriding traditional usages, which 
 seemed to stand in the way of progress; one whose 
 
10 
 
 place in estimation has not been gained by compliance 
 or compromise of views, and who, through times more 
 critical than even Charleston ever knew before, has 
 sought, unslumberingly and unyieldingly, its highest 
 welfare. 
 
 It was Cato — was it not? — who, when asked why 
 his statue was not carried in a public procession, 
 replied: " I had rather that men should ask why it 
 was not, than why it was thus carried. " If this monu- 
 mental marble, or something akin to it, had not been 
 erected here, there are very many who would have 
 asked why it was not — none will ever wonder and 
 inquire why it was ! 
 
 The tablet to Sir Christopher Wren, in the crypt of 
 St. Paul's Cathedral, London, bears the well-known 
 inscription: ''''Si mon.umentum requiris f Circumspice.'''' 
 That stately pile is the grandest memorial to its 
 builder. The testimonial to our distinguished fellow- 
 citizen, here unveiled, has not been offered because he 
 needed it. If you wouldsee his truest and best monu- 
 ment, look around, upon every part of our city, and 
 every department of our municipal life. No, he does 
 not need the tribute, but we need to render it, and 
 when those who come after us shall ask to see the 
 lineaments so familiar to us, this speaking marble will 
 afford the opportunity. To your care, then, Mr. Mayor, 
 as the representative of this city, it is committed, that, 
 in this building, itself, in the perfection of its appoint- 
 ments, a monument to him: in this official room, the 
 Bcene of his labors, and in this chamber, which his own 
 efforts and means have so largely adorned and enriched, 
 it may take its place among the memorials of those 
 whom Charleston will always remember with gratitude, 
 and enshrine in honor. 
 
11 
 
 piaxTov Svijau ^cccincs tUxt gust. 
 
 Hon. George D. Bryan, on behalf of the city as its 
 Mayor, received the bust, with the following remarks : 
 
 "On behalf of the City Council of Charleston, it gives 
 me great pleasure to accept into the custody of the 
 city the bust of ex-Mayor Courtenay, presented by you 
 in the name of a number of our fellow-citizens. " 
 
 After Mayor Bryan had received the memorial, Mr. 
 John S. Riggs, of the Committee of Arrangements, 
 stepped forward and extended a pleasant invitation to 
 the croAvded audience to make a closer inspection of 
 the artist's excelling work, by passing through the 
 Mayor's room and this was done ; the bust standing in 
 a niche in the wall of the Mayor's office, where it will 
 rest, long after those who raised it are as cold as the 
 stone from which it was chiseled. 
 
 This beautiful work of art, stands on a pedestal of 
 white marble, designed and executed by Mr. Reynolds, 
 on King Street, and bears following brief inscription : 
 
 WILLIAM ASHMEAD COURTENAY. 
 
 Mayor of Charleston, 1879-1887. 
 
 AS CHIEF MAGISTRATE 
 
 HE ADMINISTERED THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 WITH FIRMNESS, IMPARTIALITY AND SUCCESS, 
 
 EVEN AMID THE DISASTERS OF CYCLONE AND EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 SIGNALLY ILLUSTRATING THE SAFE MAXIM, THAT 
 
 " PUBLIC OFFICE IS A PUBLIC TRUST." 
 
 THIS MEMORIAL ERECTED BY HIS GRATEFUL FELLOW CITIZENS 
 DECEMBER 19th, 1888. 
 
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 The bust is in the classic style. It is a noble piece 
 of sculpture. Its faithful likeness and strong effect 
 immediately absorb the attention. The expression is 
 grave and thoughtful, full of the wonted dignity of the 
 Chief Magistrate, and the pleasant seriousness of a large 
 mind and heart. 
 
 The civic ruler is the embodied conception, and the 
 artist has with consummate skill following this ideal, 
 achieved another marked success in his public statues. 
 In all its elements of power, in its life, its firmness, and 
 its energy, we doubt if Mr. Valentine was ever more 
 successful. 
 
 This memorial is the third from this renowned 
 sculptor that now adorns our City Hall. Ha3me, 
 Memminger, and now Courtenay, are rich treasures of 
 his great gift. And it is to us a grateful thought that 
 this Southern genius who has already wrought with so 
 much of feeling and consecration of his art, the statues 
 of Lee, Breckenridge and Jackson, should for us and 
 for our children have chiseled the form and lineaments 
 of the men our city has delighted to honor. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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