St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-09-11
Tributes to the President.

reference to the President IN their pray
ers at the Sunday services and seVeral
spoke somewhat at length of the great
man and his work. Just before the litany
at St. Andrews church Rev. DR.. Pickells
spoke as follows:
81 desire your prayers on behalf OF
William Mckinley, President OF these
United States. You are all aware that,
within the last 4S hours, great outrage
and crime has been committed against
this nation of which so many OF you
are citizens and rightully proud OF being
so. In the dastardly and wicked attempt
upon the life of that prlncel y man whose
name l have just mentioned, every loyal
man and true in this land, whether citl-
zen or no citizen and of whatever point
les, has felt an attack upon himself, upon
liberty, upon citizenship, upon honor'
upon integrity, upon UNIVERSAL security
But such has been the profound impress
sion made upon the hearts OF Americans
by the spotless character, the transpar-
ent integrity, the conspicuous ability, the
Christian goodness of the great Pres
ident, that the sentiment, the anxiety,
the intense yearning of the whole popu-
lation of this country has centred IN Won
der PROSTATE figure fighting Tor sheer lite
in the city OF Buffalo. Nearly 7O,0OO,OOO
of people are today engaged in beseech-
ing God to spare His servants lite, SO
wantonly assailed by cowardly assas-
sim bullet. This is hardly the time to
DWELL in laudatory terms on the lite,
career and character of Americas great
est son, nor in language OF indignation
and loathing on the wretched creature
whose horribly burlesque idea OF duty
has led to attempt to do away the lite
of an innocent man. If God spare that
imperiled life, in our very Joy and graft
tude we may well afford TO mingle and
temper our wrath with pity. But, ii
not, God help America three martyred
Presidents in SO years. We may hope
and believe, however, that God will be
better to us than our fears, i'll answer to
a whole nations prayers"
The subject Training an American
Citizen, which had already been selected
for the sermon at the Church of the Mes
siah for last Sunday morning was most
appropriate after the occurrences at
Buffalo Friday, and the pastor, Rev. Mr..
Walch, preached an exceedingly strong
sermon with especial reference to the at
tempted assassination.
At st. Aloysius church, Rev. ]. A.
Lynch, after requesting the prayers OF
the congregation for various intentions,
added: I'VE will furthermore thank AL
mighty God for having mercifully shield
ed our noble and beloved President, from
instant death at the hand of cowardly
assassin; and from the consequent and
more terrible fate of appearing before
Gods judgment throne without warning
or preparation. We will also earnestly
beg that same merciful Father to further
preserve him, restore his health and
enable him again to resume his place at
the head of this afflicted and Borrowing
nation" During the sermon FIR. Lynch
referred to the attempted assassination
of President Mckinley and spoke in part
as folio VS.:
81 would call your attention again tC
the sad event which has sent thrill O
horror throughout this nation anC
awakened in the breast of every Amer
lean citizen, contempt for the poor, mis-
guided dastardly assassin; and the
strongest condemnation of the society
which planned and the principles which
inspired that deed. This misguided
youth is a member of an oath-bounC
secret society, and is but tool in the
hands of Older and deeper-dyed villains
The consideration of his awful deed, car
but place in a clearer light the wisdom o
the church, in condemning as beneath
the dignity of free manhood and forbid
ding to her children, membership in any
society, the end or aim of which is secret
and the means to that end-the plan
and methods of reaching it-likewis
secret. In other words, society where
in a man solemnly pledges himself tt
work for an end, of which he is ignoran
at the time he takes the obligation; ant
with absolute obedience, to adopt tn
methods and use the means pointed GU
to him. The end or aim may be goot
and the means lawful, but the principl
is vicious, and consequently dangerou
alike to civil society and individual
morality. And even as the state sur
rounds with barriers of law, whateve
seems to be a public danger, so tn
church condemns and torbids any societ.
based upon principles morally unsound
and therefore dangerous. And these ar
unsound and dangerous, precisely il
this: that man thus binding himsel
prostitutes his God-given reason, SUI
renders his freedom OF will, closes up tn
tribunal OF conscience and delivers him
self up moral slave to men who hav
no authority over his moral tacultie
and who are no more infallible than him
self He thus becomes mere tool. AM
if he be a tool in the hands of good men
it is but happy accident. Even the
he deprives himself of the eternal rewar
due to deeds of virtue. For good deeds
even charity, in order to be virtnous an
win the reward promised by Jesus Chris
must be supernatural; that is, must b
done for God in His name and in obet
fence to His will not at the instigatio
of society, or because the object {
such benevolence happens to be a men
f Der, or the family of member in goo
standing"
After further dwelling upon the wi
| dom OF the Church in dealing with pril
E ciples susceptible of dangerous applic'
r ton; and the folly of trying toIsubstitu
purely human means of doing good an
practcing virtue, for those which Chris
himself established and enriched with Il