The Irish standard., 1901-09-28

himself, and to treat with generous
purpose the claims of his human
brother, must have more substantial
support than the brotherhood of man.
1t must draw its vitalizing stability
from the fatherhood of God, that alone
can give life to the brotherhood of
man. Virtue must have higher aim
and more enduring foundation than
the glow of qualification with which
it's sweet influence may gladden. the
generous heart of the unseltish. 1t
must taken its root in the eternal
truths of religion, that shed the light
of heaven into the human soul, and
remind the children of men that they
have been placed in this fair world
by their Creator and Sovereign Master,
for higher and nobler ends than any
that the best in this life of disappoint-
ment and trial can suggest.
The scoffer at the elevating truths
Of the Cristian religion, is the sower
of the seeds Of anarchy, the foe of
liberty, the enemy Of God, the friend
Of the fallen angels and blight on
humanity's dearest hopes. Christian
teachings gave birth to the principles
on which this mighty structure of lib
erty was raised. Christian teachings
have been the preserving leaven that
has permeated the social body during
the past century and strengthened the
foundations of this free government.
We are a christian people. In the
power Of the christians faith we feel
the security of our liberties. Tlle
power that civilized the Teuton, the
Celt and the Saxon, can and will pre-.
serve an enlightened civilization in
this glorious land of ours. God is the
source Of authority. "From Him is
all paternity in heaven and earth
named" Any attempt to defy the
authority of God, is a blow directed
at the sovereignty of the state. "The
fear Of the Lord is the beginning Of
wisdom" Our national calamity
should teach us that national folly be-
gins where God is ignored.
Our national loss is intensified when
we remember the noble, Christian
character of the man whose personal
purity of life adorned the exalted sta
ton in which his admiring country
men had placed him. cit is God way:
His will, not ours, be done" was his
dying message to the country he had
SO faithfully served. His calm resig
nation in suffering, his noble trust in
God, his faith in the Christians prayer,
all commend him to the affectionate
memory of his country. The charac-
ter Of the man raises William Nc
kinley above the exalted station of
the president of the republic. Char
acter is more precious than power,
more enduring than tenure of office.
more' worthy of admiration than posi-
ton, or political preferment. William
McKinley's name will be cherished by
his grateful country, more because of
his personal worth, and his stainless
name, than because he fell Il martyr
to our proud principle of liberty of
speech.
Since our centennial year, 1876, Il
quarter of century, William McKin-
ley has been exposed to the glare OF
publicity, as candidate for congress.
Il member of the House, leading the
forces of his political party, in the
office of governor of the state of Ohio,
and during a little more than four
years Of peculiar public agitation in
the Office OF the president, passing
through, two tiercely contested cam
paigns, aud his most unsparing critics
and political enemies have never
found Il stain upon his character.
Few men indeed are prepared to un
dergo such scrutiny. He was not
without faults that are common to
ordinary men. He was human. 1t
would be offensive tiattery to assert
that he made no mistakes. But in
presence Of his lifeless body we forget
his deficiencies, his mistakes we will
inter with his bones, and remember
only the virtues that make his men,
DRY dear. His tilial devotion to his
venerable mother who worshipped her
ambitious boy, and his tender, loving
care Of the frail woman whose love
was dearer to him than exalted sta
ton, will endear him to his country
as u model of the domestic virtues.
The earnest religious character Of
the boy, who at the age of eighteen
years enlisted in the Twenty third
Ohio volunteer infantry to serve his
country in her time Of need, saved him
from the evils that have wrecked
many a young life. His integrity Of
character recommended him to his
political party as Il natural leader.
From 1876 to 1890, no public man in
the United States became better or
more widely known than William Nc.
Kinley. He was denounced at home
and hated abroad because of his I'M
compromising tariff views. but his
bitterest enemies never found dishon-
or coupled with his name. After a
heated and most earnestly contested
campaign he was elected to the pres
idcncy in 1896 Hn came to thnt HIGH