Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-09-26


with the spirit of our times"
; IL is hard to forestall the judgment
Of history and yet | believe that
Mckinley is tho greatest OF our Pfesi
dsnts save Lincoln. As to his death,
that cup could not pass US. Nothing
ia more significant and pathetic than
the grief among the poor people. He
represented to them brave leader, who
had led his people from times of dis
tress into those of prosperity.
PASTOR LEWIS ADDRESS,
At the conclusion of this address the
Past" The Rev. William Frederick
Dickens. Lewis, pastor of Rodney Street
Presbyterian Church, then gave his
address on civilian Mckinley, the
Man and the Christian. I" lie said:
In the city of Bristol, England, is a
statue of Edmund Burke and on its
base this quotation from one OF his
speeohes: II seem to enter Parliament
to do and to act for the best interest
and welfare of my nation.'' / know
of no words that better apply to
Mckinley than these.
A great man has fallen in our midst
and q great mans personality like the
Matterhorn, still towers above the land
scape and claims our attention. There
was time when there were few out
let's for the flood of human emotion,
when 1t was right and proper to pay
glowing tributes to the striking charao-
teristics and the great worth of public
men. But In this new age of books and
inventions this no longer ayails. The
rrees can reach a greater audience
Therefore funeral addresses arc not
necessary when the mute lips of
great man are more eloquent than
spoken words. But religion can be
patriotic and can lay Its simple tribute
which is due to great worth and The
acknowledged greatness of public SER
vice rendered conscientiously and sin
cerely. So is Ut from this standpoint
that measure the life Of our dead Presi-
dent, whose whole life in private and in
public beat responsive to the claims of
Christian manhood and laid its i'm.
pfimatige upon our national life at
home and ABROAD.
In the circumstances in which We
stand today q general reflection sug-
Rests itself. The most dastardly crime
in modern history occurred at Buffalo
last Friday, when President Mckinley
fell by the hand OF oowardly assassin.
In the instances in which Lincoln and
Garfield we're assassinated the factional
strife of bloody war and tho fires of
passion were at their whitest heat, but
Mr.. Mckinley had given offence to none.
1t was an act born and bred OF the
feverish unrest that prevails among the
masses blindy lead on 10 inspirational
murder by the agitation Of persons like
Emma Goldman, Herr Most. and other
red-handed anarchists. IL was done
too, as being the last act OF the drama
10 the sacred name Liberty.
do not shrink from speaKing then
of the life Of this man ms Christian
patriot, who by his daily life showed
blameless and spotless character and
By his death showed a magnificent and
heroic bravery and bore witness to the
truth Of how Christian should die.
1t is we'll for us to look back and re-
member. Memory is very sacred gift.
1t brings before us The essential great
ness of those who when they stood be-
fore US we could hardly appreciate,
| When we stand AMONGST the topmost
| peaks of the Alps it is hard to see their
beauty and to appreciate the grandeur
Of their relations or to understand how
near the heavens they are. We must
l
at distance and with Its mellowinR
light" and "veiled in the TRANSFERRING
glow' we Eegin to measure them and
to appreciate their magnitude. Thus
is it expedient that our great men
should be taken away from us, just
when they seem to be most needed, just
when they are doing their best work
and sounding their dearest note, In
order that in the light of memory they
may be revealed to us in way in
which the light or daily intercourse
could not and did not reveal them.
Thus do we today invest with sacred
ness the memory of this royal hearted
man. A man every inch of him And
yet he had the tender sensibility Ola
woman! The quality that kindled our
| admiration and clothed him with an
irresistible charm was not the splendor
of his varied gifts, but his contagious
personality, his generous magnanimous
heart, his prophetic insight into strong
statesmanlike principles, his sound
Judgment, his firm conviction oil
what was right and above all the eleva.
tion and the depth of his character q:
servant Of the Most High God. dc
not say that everything that won him
| SUCCESS IN his career OR that was admir-.
able Ia his character is TO he ascribed
only to his religious faith. But [ dc
say that his Christian faith heightened
| his efficiency, made his beautiful home
life and gave him heroism in the lay al
adversely, tearing no evil when his
Maker called him to be nearer to Him.
self as ''He gave His he.oged sleep. ~
Ths biography of that home life, coulc
1t be written, would be of priceless value
to US. 1t has given us an example oil
domestic purity that 1t is almost diff
cult for us to realize how much it was
needed. America g greatness depends
ON her home life and woe to the great
ness of our Republic IL our home life II
threatened, So today We look bacl
upon this strong life and we are i'm
pressed that now aud again in human
history, n man is found who sees grea
eternal principles and knows how to
make other men see them, who under
stands great evepts and knows how Il
guide nation through the perplexinl
labyrinths of these events. This mar
is both prophet and a statesman.
He il greater than king or an EN-
peror. lt is a rare combination.
Can any pen picture of him be com
plete without mentioning this as one o
the characteristics that won for him tn
confidence of the American peoplei
Today too, he has the peoples hearts
as Wilberforce said of Gladstone, "anC
these hearts that have watched pray or
fully every incident OF his calm an,
peaceful deathbed are happily assure,
that there was no moaning at the ba
, when he put out to sea-