The following memorial and resolutions were prepared by a committee
appointed by a number of members of the Chi Phi Fraternity, who
assembled in Atlanta upon the announcement of the death of Henry W.
Grady, who was a member of that Fraternity, and were read by Judge W. R.
Hammond:
It is sad beyond the power of expression to be compelled to-day,
and from this time henceforth, to speak of Henry W. Grady as
dead. But it is with the profoundest pleasure that we take
occasion to give utterance to our appreciation of his virtues,
and bear testimony to those high qualities in him that marked
him in many respects, not only as one of the leading men of his
State and section, but as one of the foremost men of his times.
It is peculiarly appropriate that his club-mates of the Chi Phi
Fraternity should perpetuate his memory, because he was one of
its charter members at the State University, and always gave to
it a place of unusual warmth in his affections, ever
manifesting, in his attachment to its principles and to its
members, that freshness of enthusiastic ardor which so
strikingly characterized him in his college days. How well do we
remember him—those of us who were accustomed to be with him in
those days—as, with buoyant tread and sparkling eye and merry
smile, he went out and came in amongst us, ever bearing in his
frank, generous, hearty manner, the cheeriest good will to all,
and the unmistakable evidence of malice and ill-will toward
none. Easily and quickly did he win the hearts of all his club
and college-mates, and it was their delight to do him honor
whenever occasion permitted.
As it was then among the boys, so it was afterwards among men.
He wore his heart upon his sleeve, and gave it to all without
reserve. In some this characteristic would have been weakness,
but in him it was a chief element of strength because of the
very fact that he possessed it in such a marked and striking
degree. Even those who were his enemies were won to him when
they came into his presence, and had their dislikes charmed away
by the magnetism of his manner and his open and unreserved
frankness.
Henry Grady had eminent characteristics which made him great,
and it is proper and right that we should place upon record our
estimate of them, and cannot but be highly beneficial to us to
thoughtfully consider some of them.
His mind was exceedingly subtle, and his perceptible powers
unusually and remarkably keen. He comprehended at a glance, and
discriminated as if by intuition. It was this, doubtless, that
gave him that wonderful expressiveness of speech which so
completely captivated all who ever heard him. He saw
clearly—therefore he had power to make others see.
We all have within us at times vague and inexpressible thoughts,
and we feel a desire for some one who can interpret them for us,
and give utterance and expression to that which we cannot even
put into the form of a suggestion. We feel the need of a Daniel
who can tell us the dream, and then give us the interpretation
of it. Who that has listened to the magic of Grady’s speech, or
gathered the subtle thought from his well-chosen words, has not
found in them the expression of that which seemed to lie
slumbering in his own bosom, only to be awakened by the touch of
his master hand! Such is the service which genius renders to
humanity, and such did he render for us with a power that was
almost matchless and unapproachable.
But, superb as were his mental gifts, it was not this alone, or
even chiefly, that made him great and gave him power such as few
ever possessed to attract men to him. There have been those who
equaled if they did not surpass him here, but who yet have
failed to impress themselves upon humanity with a tithe of the
force exerted by him. It was his great heart that endeared him
to us all and made us love him and rejoice in his success, with
a feeling that knew no jealousy, and ever prompted us to bid him
God-speed in his onward and upward career to the high destiny
which seemed to await him.
True love is unmistakable in its manifestations. He who really
and truly loves his fellows need not fear that they will fail to
find it out. It will manifest itself, not in the arts and wiles
of the demagogue, but in a thousand ways which need not be
premeditated, and cannot be misjudged or misunderstood.
Grady loved humanity, and love with him was not weak
sentimentality, but strong, over-mastering passion. He loved
humanity, not in the abstract, but in the person of those
members of it who came within reach of him. And this love to
them was not a mere sentiment, but a real passion, to which he
gave expression in his never-tiring acts of devotion and his
ceaseless efforts to aid them in every way and by every means
that lay in his power. It was thus that he grappled his friends
to him with hoops of steel and held them in a grasp which
nothing could loosen.
It was Grady’s strong emotional nature that gave wings to his
words and carried them so deep into the hearts of his fellow
men. Thought must have feeling back of it before it can have
power to stir men’s blood and move them to action. The twain
must be married together as one, and from their union springs a
light and power which are potent factors in the redemption of
humanity. In Grady they were united, and hence his words burnt
their way into the souls of men. The magnificence of his
thoughts, and the untold wealth of feeling which sprang from his
great heart, were not to be resisted, and easily won and held
the admiration and homage of his fellow men.
But the deep pathos of Grady’s heart, so often stirred into
those grand utterances which made him famous, seems now to
have been but the prophecy of the far deeper pathos of his
untimely death. Oh how sad it was to see him lying there upon
his bier mute and motionless, when but yesterday the nation
hung upon his words, and men of all sections and political
parties delighted to do him honor. Oh how strong in our
breasts is the wish that he might have lived, not only for
himself, his family and friends, but also for the sake of his
country, and especially his beloved Southland, just beginning
to feel the disenthrallment from her bonds, and to realize
that one had arisen who seemed to have the power to place her
before the Nation and the world in her rightful position, and
claim for her that sympathy and forbearance which she so much
needs in the solution of the great problem which has been
thrust upon her.
But he is gone, and we can only mourn his loss, and indulge the
hope that the good he has done may live after him, and that even
the sad bereavement of his death may do much to help seal the
truth of his last public utterance upon the hearts of the people
of this great country, and ultimately bring them together as one
in a union of fraternal fellowship and love.
_Resolved_, That in the death of our brother, Henry W. Grady,
our Fraternity has lost one of its most honored and devoted
members.
_Resolved_, That we tender to his bereaved family our sincere
and heartfelt sympathy.
_Resolved_, That a copy of this memorial and resolutions be sent
to his family.
_Resolved_, That the city papers be requested to publish these
proceedings, and that a copy be sent to the national organ of
the Chi Phi Fraternity.
J. W. LEE, }
J. T. WHITE, }
B. H. HILL, }
ANDREW CALHOUN, } _Committee_.
W. H. HILL, }
JACK M. SLATON, }
W. R. HAMMOND, }
Hon. Patrick Walsh was introduced by Mayor Glenn, and said: