The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1901-09-19
E.IRTHa:TO E.IRTH.


That slope thro' darkness up to God
T stretch lame hands OF faith and gropes
And gather dust and chaff and call ! ..
To what feel is Lord Of all
And family trust the larger hope. ~
81 Fl - r. s,.sg in Memoriam.
B The nation with bowed head and be-
dimmed eyes stands to-day at the open
grave Of our assassinated president
VIM. McKinley-and as out in Gods
acre he is laid to rest within the com
mon lot of all mankind, and the great
living American commoner, who but
yesterday enunciated the living princi-
pies OF new century now lives only in
history and the hearts of a great ma
ton, at this time there is closed one
of the greatest and grandest chapters
in the history of our nation, for if ever
men were born for the occasion and
the hour, VIM. Mckinley certainly
was one of them. He was guided by
destiny from the ranks of an army of
volunteer soldiers where he had won
his honors, to the halls of congress and
thence to the highest office within the
gift of a mighty people. He was the
man for the hour. The nation was to
emerge from we'll nigh bankruptcy to
that of the foremost commercial nation
of the earth, and better still to rise up
and drive the last vestige of rotten
despotism from the western hemi-
sphere. But more than this, it was to
be McKinley's great wisdom, his warm
heart and magnanimous character that
was to bury all that remained of do
nestle discord and factional feeling.
He was wise and considerate, broad in
his humanity, and he gained the love
and confidence of the American people
in a most wonderful degree. His
greatness was in his goodness and his
success was in his sincerity.
His administration will be known in
history as one truly typical of Ameri-
can progress and advancement, and as
one in which the flag of our country
has taken its place on the great and
towering mast of civilization as repre-
senting the highest achievements of
free and Independent people.
It is hard to fathom the mystery of
Fate. It is silent and inscrutable and
why Mckinley should be sacrificed at
this particular time, or sacrificed at
all, is beyond human comprehension.
His tragic passing but emphasizes his
greatness as man and his usefulness
as citizen. His life is full of rich
and lasting lessons that the rising gen.
GRAFTON and the citizens of to-day may
study with great profit. A brave SOL
der, a useful and loyal Christian citi-
zen, and most tender, solicitous and
loving husband, what more does go to
make perfect man? In speech de-
livered in congress in 1890, he said
I hope know more of the constitu-
ton OF my country than I did when I
was twenty years old. I hope I have
contemplated it's great objects more
broadly. I hope I have read with deep
interest the sentiments of the great
men who framed it.
Those words indicated the character
of the man that was to fill the presi-
dents chair few years later, and who
was to be the great figure in most
tragic drama, and dying the death of
the brave and the true.
Oh! for the death the righteous die.
And end like autumns days declining
On human hearts as on the sky,
With holier, tender beauty shining:
AS to the parting soul were given
The radiance of an opening heaven:
AS if that pure and blessed light
From off the eternal altar flowing
Were bathing in it's upward flight
The spirit to it's worship going.
Whittier
The great steel strike came to an