, 1901-09-20

full, was read at his request by Rev. F.
T. Kruger:
Say nothing of the dead that is not
true,
Was Rome's controlling dictum;
But in lieu give me the maxim of her
sterner mood,
Say nothing of the dead that is not
true"
AS we stand here this afternoon at
the open grave of one who in life was
the chief magistrate of this people and
nation, mingling our prayers and tears
with u countrymen over the broad
eXpanse of this great sovereignty, we
could say nothing of III deceased
president that is not good, for in his
whole life there is nothing but what is
good and noble, hence w can say
nothing but what is true.
While men are generally judged by
their public acts. yet in making an es-
innate as to character it is not only
the public life but the private life as
well hat must necessarily be scruti-
nized, in placing a correct estimate as
to the worth of the man.
In scrutinizing the public life of our
lamented president, in all of its var
ious phases and conditions, we are
irresistably lead to the conclusion that
he was actuated by an honesty of pur-
pose, a devotion to duty, a candid sim
plicity, an unimpeachable integrity, a
patriotic love of country, that placed
him in the front ranks as a a
In his private life he was constant,
tender and true to those with whom he
came in contact, doing good to his
friends and despising not his enemies,
even to the man by whose hand he was
So ruthlessly stricken down. exempli-
flying the Golden Rule, doing unto
others as you would be lone by
In his moral and religious life he be-
lieved in the Providence of God and
was an humble follower of the Divine
Son, the "lowly Nazerene."
In his domestic life, he was affec-
tomato, tender and true, ever consid-
crate, a strong arm and protector to
her whom he had promised to cherish
and protect, never for a moment way
ering in his duty and allegiance. Such
were the traits that marked the man,
and made him a man among men
To know him was to love him, and
we all knew him, perhaps not person
ally, but we all knew this man among
men, with the same certainty as if he
had been our next door neighbor. Ev-
cry citizen of this great republic, by
his death, has sustained a personal
loss and in common with u whole
people we shed our tears and pour out
our grief around his bier.
There are occasions in the life of all
of us when silence seems more appro-
pirate and more expressive than Ian
guage is or can be. Some of you, in
fact many of you, have witnessed oc'
a VI Ihok hoNaiS. " h"N
doubtless stood at the bedside of a dy,
ing beloved one, a near relative, a
cherished friend. You have watched
the last struggle, the last agonies on
the very confines of eternity, you have
watched the Quivering and trembling
lips for the last whispered word, what
language, l ask you, could express the
silent and awful thoughts of your soul,
thoughts that surged like ocean bill
lows through the depths of your be
ing? For one long weary week the
great hearts of the American people,
for in this all hearts are one, throbbed
eXpectantly by the bedside of its dying
chief. Today the same heart throbs
sadly, sorrowfully, m%ournfully by his
tomb. Why should the lips move while
the heart speaks? 1t would be out of
place for me to speak to you today of
Mr.. Mckinley as soldier, statesman
and ruler of seventy millions Of human
beings. l honor the man in all of these
respects and rightly So, but l honor
him and hold him in sacred benedic.
ton. chiefly, not because he was a
statesman, not because he was the
president of this republic, but because
he vas a good man, a moral man, a
man who practiced to perfection the
domestic, the home virtues, on which
as on an eternal rock depends the COM
pick superstructure of our civilization,
as the fruit of the tree depends upon
its roots.
The heart of the good husband, the
good parent is the sanctuary of the
home, the home is the sanctuary o.
the nation. Poor Mrs. Mckinley what
shall We say Of her as she stands to.
day by the grave of her loved one?
What can We say? Words are use
less. Let us pray the Almighty God
in his infinite goodness to console. to
comfort her, until she meets again
him whom she loves, in the Kingdom
of endless peace and happiness where
her heart and soul shall forever have
ended.
America" was sung in closing, af'
ter which the audience was dismissed
with the benediction, by Rev. f. F,
Pinckert.