The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-11-02
FREDERICKSBURG Va. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2 1901
A Christian Knight.

A Christian Knight.
When the proudest and most polished
assemblage this world had seen was
gathered in the pompous "pageantry ol
woe at the funeral Of Louis XIV, in the
Cathedral of Notre Dame, Archbishop
Fenelon began his sermon with these
words. "There is nothing great but
God. There is nothing solemn but eter-
nifty"
To the thoughtful mind which takes
pause amid our universal sorrow and re-
fleets upon earthly glory, these words OF
the preacher must strike home. Our
good and great President, in the zenith
of his noble career, delivers commemO-
rative address, embracing the world, and
pronounced by competent. ,publicists the
most affluent ofall his utterances. With
in the leeting moments of one little day,
he is shadowed by the cold obstruction
OF the grave The startling solecism
banched the faces OF all, and the pity Of
it made strong men cry like women. And
who Of Us all is not prouder and better
than when the autumn shadows began
to lengthen? lie was our President, the
product of our institutions, the Chief
Magistrate of our entire people, whom
he loved and who loved him.
Soldier, citizen, statesman, friend, gen
tleman, husband, and exemplar in all.
During his career as President he was
ever so clean in his great Office that he
realized the august ideal Of Edmund
Burke: They who administer in the
government of men, in which they stand
in the person of God Himself, should
have high and worthy notions OF their
function and destination. Their hope
should be full Of Immortality" When
time shall have mellowed the perspective,
some great historian will paint his true
picture For his contemporaries he will
always be an antique Christian knight.
lie is not dead, but sleepeth; well we
know
The form that now lies mute beneath
the sod
Shall rise. what time the golden bugles
blow
And pour their music through the
courts of God.
And there. amid the great heroic dead,
The war-worn sons OF God, whose
work is done,
His face shall shine. as they with solemn
In grand review sweep past the jasper
throne.
The historian, Motley, concludes the
chapter upon the assassination OF Will
liam of Orange in words which seem
singularly aud tenderly appropriate to
the calamity which has befallen us:
"He went through life bearing the load
OF peoples sorrows upon his shoulders
with smiling face. Their name was
the last word upon his lips, save the
single affirmative with which the soldier
who had been battling for the right all
his lifetime commended his soul in dying
to his great captain, Christ. The people
were grateful and affectionate, for they
trusted the character OF ftheir Father Viii
liam. AS long as he lived he was the
guiding star of whole brave nation,
and when he died the little children cried
in the streets"
We have Father William" too, who
is now our "William the Silent" but his
fame shall abide secure and resplendent
ioreyermore.
That love where death has set his seal,
Nor age can chill nor rival steal,
Nor falsehoOd disavow.
We believe that every man and every
woman would write the same verse upon
his monument:
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.
The world Is lonesomer since he has
gone-and yet were ever people left such
a legacy? One hour the most influential
man upon this. planet: the next hour re-
peating the Lords Prayer upon the op-
Grating table. What sermOn-what ten
thousand sermons were ever potent and
blessed as thatl We called him Christian
knight; his word stainless to the end.
And throughout the coming ages,
When his sword is rust.
And his name in classic pages,
Mindful OF her trust,
Shall this nation, bending lowly,
Still a ceaseless vigil holy
Keep above his dust.
a = Marve In WASHINGTON Post