Evening star., 1901-09-19
INDULGESalN EULOGY
Secretary Legpg'ss 3 Estimate Of the
Late President Mckinley.
An ADDRESS BY CARROLL D. WRIGHT
Review of the life of the Dead
chisf Magistrate.


The service at All Souls Unitarian
Church at 14th and L streets this morning
at II O'Clock was a notable and impressive
one In many respects. The principal ad-
dress of the morning was delivered by Mr..
Carroll d. Wright, the United States COM
missioner of labor; Secretary John D. Long
OF the navy was interested listener
throughout the address, and at it's close re-
sponded to call for a few remarks with
fine eulogy of the dead President. The
religious services were conducted by Rev.
Y. Y. B. Pierce, pastor of the church. The
choir rendered an appropriate song service
ana the entire congregation joined In sing
ing i.n the late Presidents favorite hymn
Nearer, My God, to Thee
Commissioner Wright spoke at some
length. reviewing President Mckinleys life
from his birth to the time of his death
he spoke of the mans noble parentage,
his gifts of education and his early strug-
gle for success. He then came down to
the late years when Mr.. Mckinley was
placed in the highest position in the gift
or the people and accorded a confidence
gained by few men in the history of the
nation.
When Mr.. Long was called upon for an
expression, he declared he could add lit
tie or nothing to the fine tribute to the
dead chieftain delivered by Mr.. Wright.
secretary Long said he was present at the
memorial service in his capacity as men,
per or the congregation of All Souls
church. He was there to join with his fell
low churchmen in honoring the memory of
one who had been very near and dear to
him. He spoke of the solemn services which
were soon to be held in the little town of
Canton, the home place of the martyred
President, and said the hearts of all the
country, with saddened beats, would turn
10 that Ohio community in this hour Of the
nations sorrow
Secretary Long said that the Presidents s
hepn pnnpiZa6 in
worthy than he could utter. Speaking as
member of Mr.. McKinley's official fam
ny, however, he wanted to say how much
the cabinet officers had appreciated the
PRESIDENTS life and how reverently they
respected his memory. Secretary Long said
that he and his brother cabinet officers had
pronted much by such life He said the
world had been better to have known such
a man.
The Secretary's brief remarks were eager
iy listened to by the congregation. All
were impressed by the simplicity of his
speech, which was yet forceful in it's effect
and influence
Carroll d. Wright's Address,
The topic of Mr.. Wright's address was
William Mckinley He said:
In the grand economy of God a noble
soul has been called back to it's Giver.
Death is not an Unfamiliar event. nor
Is 1t that a man in the prime Of life, in the
midst or active duties, and even as he
seems to be stepping up to higher work, is
made to cross the dark stream.
we all know heroic men who have
struggled manfully with the obstacles Of
life, with the greatest fortitude as well as
with the sublimest faith. Daily men die
whose lives have been as sublime as the
NE or MIN We mourn today. 1t cannot be
tnen merely the death of the man that
shrouds the country. There was a time
when the decease Of William Mckinley
would simply have called out eulogistic edi-
aorlais 1,s from the press and his funeral
would have been local Why is it, then,
that today the homes and the marus CT the
country are draped in the sad emblems of
mourning, that in passing over all the
states Of the Union not a hamlet can be
found that does not in some way exnress
the grief OF the people; that party has been
completely sunk out of sight; that all the
bitter work of political campaigns has been
turned to the expression Of synpathy and
of heartfelt consideration of the virtues cf
one of the chief characters in political
activity! Why are these things, if a death
only mas occurred among nearly eighty mil
lions of people which make up our nation?
DO we learn from the circumstances Of the
death Of the chief magistrate more than
the lesson of mortality taught by all
deaths?
These questions may find an answer
when we consider the life, character SER
vices and death of President Mckinley.
Certain 1t is that some sentiment causes
a
pause in the material efforts and come up
to the shrines of worship with their f1ee
offerings Of incense which shall be grateful
in the divinest sense to the Controller of all
Deeds. No imperial order commands
mourning, but still higher command
comes from our hearts to suspend all the
varied duties of life and meet around cne
common altar to commemorate the death
of our chosen governor. This self-imposed
duty is as sweet as that which prompts ten
der care for the resting places of our
dead, and springs from the hope we have
of Immortality, and while it does honor to
the memory of loved ones who have passed
through the supreme agony Of their lives
it brings us to higher and nobler con-
ception OF life and to deeper and rro-
founder love for the Being who holds onr
lives, and the lives Of nations as well. ia
the hollow Of His hand
Garfeld's Words Recalled.
In drawing attention to the life of Mr.
Mckinley I would like to impress upon
your minds the words used by his mar
tyred predecessor, Mr.. Garfield upon one
occasion when he was endeavoring to con-
vince a doubling soul of the inestimable
worth Of the Christian faith. Said he:
Remember, always, that this life is a bat
tie where we struggle on to a beginning,
but it is in the endless cycles of eternity
that our lives must be rounded and per-
fected." Let us keep this grand truth SO
emphatically expressed before US, not only
In contemplating the events in the life Of
M Mckinley but In contemplating all the
actions of our own lives.
The story of Mckinley until he reached
maturity is one covering too much detail
for this hour and place, but we can all read
with profit of the mental and physical toll
through which the young man passed to
enable him to gain the education he so
much coveted and which entitled him to be
designated as a broadminded, well-euuipped
man. His boyi,ood life was of that char
acter which best illustrates to the grow
ing minds of youth the rewards of right
action in the fruits of the action itself
1t should be remembered that along with
the growth ofbfhis intellect his religious
faith and sensibflities, under the teaching
and influence of his mother, grew into
vigorous and vital elements in his char
acter. He recognized the impress of re-
ligious truth given by her, and through his
deep respect for herskept himself free from
bad habits and frem bad thoughts. All
that approached imphrity of life and speech
was hateful to the mother and hateful to
the son. Her flaming sword, which she
kept above her, guarded them against all
forms of indecency9 and immortality. The
mother was fuli of the best kind of life, of
a cheerful and a robust morality, knowing
no taint, and this character was given to
IaG