Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-09-24
..apKiNLEY AS PRESIDENT"
An Eloquent Tribute Delivered at the
Recent Memorial Service by Rev. L.
Myron RooZcr.

Ecccnt McfcorIai service by ReV. L.
Myron Boozcr.
/ During the recent memorial service
held in this city in respect to William
Mckinley, the following paper was read
by Rev. L. Myron Beozer. At our re
quest our readers will have the priv
elege OF reading it in these culums:
at is not necessary for me to haves
telegram from Paris or San Francisco te
know how my fellow-men feel when
any great event happens" Thus spako
Henry Ward Beecher. Today, each pa
triot places his hand upon his own
bosom and in the beating Of his own sor.
rowing heart feels the throbbing Of ma
TONS pulse as mourning nation bends
weeping over her noble dead.
William Mckinley, our honored, our
well-beloved president, is dead. Nay,
patriot, stay not the burning tear-drop
in its fall; stifle not the sob that shakes
the manly breast. Grief too deep, sor-
row too profound, does not exist for such
an hour as this. A prince among men
has fallen. The foul red hand of an
| archv has done its worst and a new name
is emblazoned on the scroll reserved for
the nations heroes, whose most precious
life blood has dyed the altar of liberty.
To the executive chair of the nation
Mr.. Mckinley brought wealth of ex-
perience, a sturdiness of character, an
evenness of disposition, simplicity of
manners. and fidelity to purpose, such as
is perhaps without its equal among those
who preceded him in its high honors.
His executive life during the years in
which he guided a nations course, forms
a chapter in history to which fair Column
bia will ever point with pride justified
by the life writ therein. The brilliancy
OF his administration may dim as years
roll on, but the achievements, the stu
pendous labors of the tireless chief, no
storm may wreck, no ravage of time de-
stroy. AS long as lives our nation Will
liam McKinley's name shall hold hon
ored place with Washington, Lincoln
and Garfield.
As president, Mr.. Mckinley has PROV
en- himself ever to be the man for the
hour. History has been of rapid making
and startling changes in the recent past.
Crises, graver than since the early COS,
have tried this stability of our institutions
and challenged the sagacity of our coun-
try's statesmen. Expansion, prsviden-
tial perhaps, has been the keynote of
recent years, projecting our nation into
untried regions of national life and
action. Yet did our President not come
short. His great powers could compass
the journeys of the flag and his great
heart had affection sufficient to receive
into his national family the misguided
Filipino, the down trodden Cuban and
the needy Porto Rican
When our good ship Maine found a
resting place beneath the waters of Ha-i
vana harber and our brave sons, by en-
emy's treachery, went down to death, the
whole land cried out for war; Public
opinion ran high, and only the calmest
Judgement could avert the PRECIPITATION of
national disaster Who of us does not
remember with just and patriotic pride
how our fallen Chief, grasped irmer the
helm of state and looking straight before
into the gathering tumultous clouds of
war, trembled not nor paled in that try
ing hour? Never did his splendid per-
sonality so dominate the Nation as then.
His calmness cooled the war fever that
coursed so madly through nations
veins, and when at last his hand un-
leashed the dogs of war, each
blow was a victory, and his wis
dom was fully justified by the results.
So in every crisis, were it small or great
our President did with his might what
his hand found to do. Well does Ber-
thold Auerbach say: ''The main token
OF strong character is not to make
known every change and phase in thought
and feeling, but to give the world the
finished results Many details of his
I "
the finished works. Finished? Yes,
though cut off in the full noontide of his
glory, his was the mastery of detail that
made every day complete and earned
the plaudit, 'Well done."
Mr.. Mckinley asPresident most clear
ly demonstrated that the highest type of
American manhood is not incongruous
with American politics.
Timely indeed is this lesson. Mr..
Mckinley brought to the execu :
tive chair a manhood unsullied by the
marks of political trickery, untarnished
by the moral leprosy that eats at the
yitals of SO many of the public men Of the
day. His life, official and private, has
exercised "a purifying influence on his
party and American politics in general
that should warn the office seeker of the
future, and prove safe guide board for
the citizen voter in choice of future ex-
ecutives.
Spurgeon says, "Man's best powers
point him Godward." William McKin-
ley, had great powers, and unerringly
they led his thoughts ,Godward. His
soul beheld the infinite ideals and press.
ed forward. AS his political career
opened before him, his soul kept pace
with the crowding honors, and Mr.. Nc