The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1901-09-26

as It saw with what tender conjugal d.
votion he sat at the bedside of his be-s
loved wife, when all feared that fatal
illness was upon her. No public clamoI
that he might show himself to the popu-
lace no demand of a social function was
sufficient to draw the lover from the bed@v
side of his wife. He watched and waited
While we all prayed-and she lived.
Tender Story of His Love.
This sweet and tender story all the
world knows, and the world knows that
his whole life had run in this one groove
o., love 10y Il was q strong arm that she
smile was more to him than the plauditD
OF the multitude and for her greeting his
acknowledgements of them must wait.
After receiving the fatal wound his first
thought was that the terrible news might
pe broken gently to her. May God in this
deep hour of sorrow comfort her. May
MS grace be greater than her anguish.
May the widows God be her God. Anoth-a
er beauty in the character Of our Presi-is
Gent, that was a chaplet of grace about
his neck, was that he was Christian.
IN the broadcast, noblest sense of the word
tnat was true. His confidence in God was
strong and unwavering. 1t held him
steady In many a storm where others
We're driven before the wind and tossed.
lie believed in the fatherhood Of God and
IN his sovereignty. His faith in the gos-
pei of Christ was deep and abiding. He
mad no patience with any other theme
OF pulpit discourse. Christ and him Cruz
clfied' was to his mind the only panacea
Tor the worlds disorders. He believedsi 1t
TO be the supreme duty of the Christian
minister to preach the word He said:
we do not look for great businessmen
In the pulpit. but for great preachers.
Ever True Christian.
1t is well known that his cody mother
10 Co, 4. L. -
a minister of the gospel and that she
believed 1t to be. the highest vocation in
life. 1t was not, however, his mothers
faith that made him Christian. He had
gained in early life personal knowledge
OF Jesus which guided him in the per-
torrance of greater duties and vaster
than have been the lot of any other Am
erican President. He said at one time.
While bearing heavy burdens, that he
could not discharge the daily duties Of
his life but for the fact that he had
faith in God. William Mckinley believed
in prayer, in the beauty of 1t, in the
potency of it. Its language was not un-
familiar to him, and his public addresses
not fnfrequently evince the fact. 1t was
perfectly consistent with his lifelong
convictions and his personal experiences
that he should say as the first critical
moment after the assassination ap-
preached. Thy Kingdom come; thy will
be DONE" and that he should declare at
the last, TT is Gods way; his will be
done" He lived grandly; it was fitting
that he should die grandly. And now
that the majesty of death has touched
and Gained him we find that in his SUI
preme moment he was still a conqueror.
Lessons from the Sad Event.
Let us turn now to brief consicera-
ton of some of the lessons that we are
to learn from this sad event. The first
w t0 al 10 nj
old lesson that sin the midst Of life we
are in DEATH MAN goeth forth to his
work and to his labor until the evening""
He heeth as 1t were shadow and never
continueth in one stay" Our President
went forth in the fullness of his strength,
in his manly beauty, and was suddenly
smitten by the hand that brought d
With 1T. None of us can tell what a
may bring forth. Let us, therefQres
member that mo man liveth TT
and none of us dieth to himsjl
each days close see each days /
Another great lesson that we st
is the vanity of mere earthly gre
In the presence of the dread mes
how small are all the trappings of
and distinction of rank and power.
seech you seek him who said: II
resurrection and the life; he that ~ "a
eth in me, though he We're dead, vet
he live, and whosoever liveth and
lteveth in me shall never die" The3
but one Savior for the sick and the weAa
l entreat you, find him, as our broth< ~
found him. But our last words must BIZ
spoken. Little more than four years ago
we babe him goodbye as he went to ash
sumo the great responsibilities to which
the nation had called him. His last words
as he left US were, Nothing could give
me greater pleasure than this farewell
greet'ng-this evidence of your friend
ship and sympathy. your good will, and.
I am sure, the prayers of all the people
with whom I have lived so long and
whose confidence and esteem are dearer
to me than any other earthly honors. To
all of us the future is as sealed book,
but If I can, by official act or admins
tration or utterance, in any degree add
to the prosperity and unity of our be-
loved country and the advancement and
well-being of our splendid citizenship,
will devote the best and most unselnsh
efforts of my life to that end. With this
thought uppermost in my mind, I reluc-
family take leave of my friends and neigh
bors cherishing in my heart the sweetest
memories and thoughts of my old home
my home now-and, trust my home
hereafter, SO long as live" We hoped
with him that when his work was done.
freed from the burdens of his great Of
flee, crowned with the affections of a hap
Ply people. he might be permitted to close
his earthly life in the home he had loved.
Sadness of the me-Coming.
He has, indeed, returned to us, but
how? Borne to the strains of Nearer.
My God, to Thee" and placed where he
first began life's struggle, that the people
might look and weep over SO sad a home-
coming. But ii was IL trlumplla1 march.
How vast the procession. The nation rose
and stood with uncovered head. The peo-
pie of the land are chief mourners. The
nations of the earth weep with them.
But, o, what victory. I do not ask you
in. the heat of public address. but in the
calm moments of mature reflection, what
other man ever had such high honors be-
slowed upon him, and by so many people O.
What pageant has equaled this that we
look upon tonight? We gave him to the
nation only little more than four years
ago. He went out with the light of the
morning upon his brow, but with his task
set, and the purpose to complete it. We
take him back mighty conqueror.
1.-THE church yard where his children rest,
The quiet spot that suits him best; "
There shall his grave be made,
And there his bones be laid. y
And there his countrymen shall come,