St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-02
A MEMORIAL SERMON.
Rev. William Wilkinson Pays a
Tr;buto 70 Secretarv window

h0V. w ulldH w IIAlHsOn aJ . "
Tribute to Secretary Window.
Rev. William Wilkinson, chaplain OF
the house of representatives. preached
a Window memorial sermon in st. An
drew's Episcopal church yesterday
morning. The text was l. Kings, Xxx,
40; ''As thy servant was busy here and
there, he was gone"
Life, he said, in all its great features
is from age to age the same as we see
from al! authentic reports of the past.
In the midst of grief or glee, men come
TO the time of departure: some by long,
tedious sickness, others in moment.
While their friends are engaged Ill the
many cares of active life, buying. sell
ing, sustaining loss, making gain, they
quietly, calmly lay down the RESPONSE
bilities, pains or joys of life. In some in
stances it is seen as in the light OF sud-
den flash how large space the departed
filled. And how difficult it is to replace
the loss. Yet the world does not for a
moment stand still, even for the deceaSe
Of its most gifted sons. For us happily,
the science of politics and government
is not one in which the useful, the prac-
tical, the right, is so plain that all men
y
see alike. and so act in unison; but
what to one man appears exceedingly
plain and fraught with good, to his
neighbor appears dubious, or it may be
full OF harm; so political parties have
their use and continue to be; this see
ing that motive it is which gives quail
ity to action. makes it possible to love
home, and hold in glad remembrance
men when we had often to Op-
pose in the arena OF public
life. The man whom to : day
this nation unites in hOnoring with a
respect given only to its most distiu7
guished men, was man OF party, but he
was man who Str0ve to advance the
interests of his state and nation as best
ne could, and in the conflicts of the past
he had such conspicuous place that
he came to occupy one Of the most I'M
portant seats of power the people had
to give. By industrious work he carried
his own lamp as he carved his way.
lit is not the smallest part of the
power of great life that it takes pro-
gresS out of the abstract and places it
before all beholders in concrete form
50 every one can see what has been
done and how. Not that every man can
attain to exceptional eminence; that is
not possible, but every man can be
improved by the study of such lives as
WINDOWS. Born he was at time
when Europe was only regaining quiet
confidence after the wars with NapO+
leon, which had drained its very. life
blood in men and treasure, when poy-
erty amongst the laboring people was
abject. The best minds on the continent
looked to new fields for emigration, and
Ia liuad
there i'm his youth and early manhood;
he saw the rushing tide of people pass
by his home. Such was the impression
made upon his mind that he resolved to
take his chances in the then new West.
But for him, as for all such men, the
chances in all worldly points Of view
are few. Certain it is with his training,
for he was a man of knowledge, clear
ness of vision, practical sense, he
must make mark in any new
country. So it proved; he was
quickly engaged in the discussion OF
questions which then agitated the pub
lie mind i'm general, and of subjects
which concerned Minnesota in particu
lar. Winona was his home, but the
state he madeshlS care. It would be a
thrilling chapter which should tell ac-
curately the discussions OF those days
and paint our state as it was. MIR.
Window found himself member OF
congress; here he met new men, meas
ured himself with them. was measured
by them, and the result must have
given exquisite pleasure to his high
strung soul. A man may be very im-
portant person in his own locality, who,
in the larger domain of the nations
councils, has to take an inferior place.
Soon it was found that the representa-
tive of Minnesota was man of wide
vision, sound sense and practical mind.
1t was known that he was growing
power. He was next sent to the senate.
and in his party was looked upon as a
man of representative character-nOt of
the West, but of the United States.
When Garfield was elected Mr.. Window
SO understood the money questions that
he was made secretary of the treasury.
This was an indication of the pIeSi-
dents view of his powers, for that took
place when in the secretary of the
treasury was demanded qualities pos
sesSed 10y few men known to public life.
had time we can only judge by what
he has done these two years last past.
He was conceded to be the best IN
formed man on the fiscal policy of the
government in his party. He was a
sagaciOus man, who had to a remarka-
bic degree the confidence of the
business men of the country, and he
was thought by many and by me
to be the best. safest, calmestl and
in many lines the most influential man,
on the whole, in the present cabinet.
His chance of being the standard
bearer in the next Republican presiden-
tial campaign was as good as that of
any living man. His power of analysis
was not of the highest order, his schol-
arSbip was excelled by many, his ora
tory was not of the highest order, his
mental power did not reach the point of
genius, but he had other elements of
force which men who possess all these
often lack, and the lack is fatal to sue
cess. w
Mr.. Window had love of work, and
could endure more constant labor than
most men; he had perseverance
which is in itself sure token of future
distinction. and he had reserve
power which is indispensable in
every man who means to do the best
in public life. In any estimate of this
mans character these elements of
power must be taken account of. In
his life, too, his surroundings must be re-
membered. No nation has in modern
times opened in some lines such a ca
reer as the Western states for the last
thirty years. Now let us look at him
with his remarkable past. with his
brilliant present, and. possibly, more
brilliant future. This man stood last
Thursday night in the midst of merch-
ant princes, and some of the prominent
men of this and other lands, the hon-
ored guest, the speaker of the day. How
we'll he spoke, we know. All hearts
were thrilled. Mr. Window told those
lords of cash: 1.-The man who loveth
silver shall not be satisfied with silver"
That was true IN the sense he intended,
but in few moments it was to receive
an emphasis it probably has never
had since it was placed in Holy