The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-09-25
in the First Presbyterian Church, on
sunday. September 18TH. 1901.

before
Vast and sincere then is the sorrow of the
nation. In the presence of this national ca
lamity there is no politics, no sectionalism, no
rancor of clashing opinions Misrepresenta-
ion is silenced. There is no time or mood for
anything but genuine sorrow. The shadows
of our national bereavement fall to-day upon
all the civilized nations of the earth. The
Car, the Emperor, the King, the Sultan, all
fastened To send their messages of sympathy
for the ruler suddenly stricken down by the
assassin's bullet The Pope, himself bowed
by the weight of his years and never far from
the borders OF the spirit land, followed his
eager message of sympathy with his personal
prayers for the deliverance of the imperilled
President, The world is in mourning to-day
for TIE great American martyr. 1t is the time
for grief | do not need, however, to dwell
upon the nations sorrow and to urge it upon
YOU as a sacred mood, and something to Gull
tivate. Perhaps my duty would be better
fulfilled il | said nothing at all on this score,
and give my energies to the task of turning
your thoughts to the great Ruler, the blessed
and only potentate, king of kings, and Lord
of Lords, who hath prepared his throne in
the Heavens, and whose kingdom ruleth over
all, whose place is never vacated for any
cause OF REASON, NOT Tor Il mnment-Mhp Is
Lord over over all, and blessed for ever"
the Providence of human affairs, the Savior
of sinners, the Comforter of sorrowing hearts.
and the Father to whose house in the better
country" our President has gone, and whore
he is now at home, to which we are all making
our way, il 80 be that We know him, whom To
know Alright is life eternal" Let not your
heart be troubled. ye believe in God lie
IL.
fear and the hope of God We are a christian
nation, that happy people whose God is the
Lord" and because this il the precise situa-
ton, and because of all the great hopes which
spring from Il christian faith, sorrow may
give place to resignation, and the last words
of the dying President become the solace and
the inspiration of the Borrowing people-"It
is Gods way; his will be done"
desire in the remarks which have hastily
prepared TO make distinct and vivid the
figure of the real man whom we honored as
the President Too much honor can never
be paid To character One can not speak too
long or too approyingly Of real worth In all
the world there is nothing 50 worthy of adj
miration, so worthy of praise. 80 worthy of
being regarded, as n good man who has tried
10 do his duty. Thomas Carlyle SAYS The
stars is that of lust men and the sons of God,
as opposed to unjust mon and the sons of
Belial d" This world has many splendid
things 10 show things sublime, things beauti-
full, things wonderful, things worthy of
endless admiration. things made by God,
things made by man; hut the most admirable
sight in the world, was even going to say
the most splendid sight, is II good man An
honest man il the unhlaat work of God -
Angels crowd around him, and gaze at him
with eager eyes as he moves along his way;
men point to him and speak his name with
conscious pride; God delights in him and
crowns him with eternal reward. Wicked men
may flourish in high places; corrupt men
seem to prosper but the good man is known,
and is always honored NJ the true prince
among men. Such man was our late Presi-
dent That real greatness Of goodness WAS
clearly recognized by many of his fellow
eouniTymen for several years Now the
whole land, looking at the man more AZ man
and a brother than asa ruler, feels that he
was a man whose strength was in his upright
mind, and his real greatness sprang from
noble heart
As Tennyson sang of Prince Albert, Vic
toria's husband, so we may think and speak Of
Mr. Mckinley:
We have lost him; he is gone
We know him now: all narrow jealousies
Are silent You see him as he moved,
How modest, kindly, all-accomplished, wise
With what sublime repression OF himself,
And in what limits and how tenderly;
Not swaying to this faction or to that;
Not making his high place the lawless perch
or wingd ambitions nor n vantage ground
For pleasure: but thro' all this tract of years
Wearing the white flower Of II blameless life
Before u thousand peering littlenesses
In I'm itph viii haa ia
throne,
And blackens every blot"
Let us take n few minutes to follow the
course of the man through the world, and
see what he was, and what he Accomplished
lie came of that sturdy Calyinistic Scotch
Irish stock which has given so many strong
men to the service Of the Republic His
people were typical Americans, in the middle
walk of life,-not rich, yet not poor; not
arstocratic in origin like Washington nor
plebian like Lincoln. They were people with
brain to plan and with Drawn to achieve His
great grandfather, David Mckinley, was an
iron master in Bucks county, Pa; he wax II
soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was
sent home from the field TO make cannon and
bullets for the army. In 1860, William Nc
Kinley at II, entered college, but in less than
year he was out on account Of severe ILL.,
ness. lie taught school for few months and
clerked in country post office In 1861 he
enlisted in the army to fight for the main
tenance OF the Union He went in as IA
private he came out at the end OF the war a
Maior-moyng from rank to rank by the
sheer force of his personal merit and his
brave conduct in battle.
At "a he was in Congress, where he soon took
uasitinu al nm ,.Inauant orator
and an enlightened and patriotic legislator.
During the course of his public life, both in
Congress and elsewhere, he delivered many
notable speeches. His addresses were char
acterized by common sense, clear statement,
and a moral earnestness which always COM
PEELED attention and respect. For four years
he served the State of Ohio as Governor, with
such conspicuous usefulness az to single him
ont as eminently fit to become the President
OF the United States.
To this exalted position he was elected by
the will of sovereign people, expressed in a
vast majority At the end OF his term he was
reelected and the worth of the man and the
value of his services to the Republic were en-
dorsed and emphasized by an even larger
majority Of the electoral votes than before
will not take your time to rehearse the
1t is all so recent and wildly impressed upon
our minds that there is no need to tell it now.
BY the stirring events Of the past three
years we were able to take the measure Of the
man. II mas ne measure IF real greatness.
The task which came into his hands by the
Providence Of God called for great man
To deliver Cuba and Porto Rico and the
Philippines from cruel and tyrannical rule,
to establish just and orderly government in
those lands, TO uphold the honor of the Re
public in China-these were no small interests,
In fact they constituted task which called
for statesmanship of the highest order The
task came to the right man. And he fulfilled
the responsibility of the situation in such a
way as to enlarge the power and influence OF
the nation for good all over the world. This
eminent services of our late President did
not begin and end in the successful prosecu-
| tion Of war that enlarged our domains and
added millions to our population, and fabu
| lous resources to our wealth. He administered