Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1901-09-26
HALE SALYE!
BY JOHN TEMPLE GRAVES.

catastrophe at the Ohio home.
The requiem and the anthem dies;
the captains and the kings depart.
The curtain falls upon great and
noble career.
1t rises instantly upon brave and
strenuous life.
''Le Roi est mort"
''Vive lie RoiP'
II is not mine-not now-to add 10
the elegiac tributes to the dead Pres
ident Of the United States.
I have read all the eulogies which
have been written within the territory
of my eye, and have heard all those
that have been spoken within the au-
ditory of my ear.
/ think that Postmaster, Edwards,
Of Macon wears the laurels which pen
and tongue have plucked from the OPP
portunities of the Swallowed day. His
eulogy at the Macon memorial is the
best Of all. In simplicity, In sincerity,
in directness and in thoughtful power
and classic beauty 1t is the gem
plucked from the solemn mine.
There has been no dearth of great
ness and even of beauty in the utter
ances evoked by the national tragedy.
There was never a snObler oppor-
tunity for the orator, the poet and
the singer. 1t IS the unvarnished
truth to say that the opportunity has
not been fully met Few OF the ora
tions have risen above the dead level
of lamentation and eulogy. No great
poem has been born of the crimson
shadows. and II the singer alone has
swept the heart Of the Republic, II Is
because the last sigh of the Martyred
President started the familiar song.
I do not readily find reason why,
IN a nation of orators and poets, this
vivid. thrilling, crimson incident, with
a peacemaking hero of Arthurian
type has been so haltingly embalmed
in speech. There has been no dearth OF
adjectives and no lack of tears. But
all the utterances have seemed want
ing in depth. in dignity and in tran
guilty.
The nation has been historical from
the beginning and the newspapers
with their seething columns, and their
smashing headlines, have intensified
excitement. Horror, FURRY and Hys-
terra have either destroyed the repose
which is the matrix Of eloquence, or
else the gross and growing material
ism Of the age has hampered the 1ree
and noble course OF sentiment ex-
pressed IN speech.
I think In all sincerity that Harry
Edwards has risen more nearly 10
the level Of the OCCASIONS rim than
any other man.
Sitting the sentiment Of the repub-
lie, after these two weeks of stress
and storm, seem to gather the ideas
That Mckinley is the best loved
President who has occupied the White
House since Washington. Better loved
than Lincoln because there was no
faction. which, failed to, understand
him, and better loved than Jefferson,
who was the target for the partisans
whose theories he opposed and over
threw. .
That his greatness had the indis-
pensable requisite of goodness and
that his sincerity was so clear that
all men, whether for or against his
theories, had respect for his convic-
tions. ss
That ne filled the mission which our
own Henry Grady begun Of loving
nation into Peace, and with the aure-
ole of Fraternity as his crown went
swiftly into Immortality.
That his death above every incident
of the decade heralds the Republic
unity. and solidIfies the. worlds auto
Monies in definite action against the
blood-red wrist OF Anarchy
That again, like Grady, the luck OF
fortunate life found its crown and Gu
max in the hour and argument OF ms
death and at the zenith OF his power
at the acme of his fame, at the very
high tide Of his universal popularity,
with not one leaf of his laurels stalled
by time or wlthered by circumstance,
died as the day dieth, swathed in
spIendor.. the Peacemaker of a Re-
public. and the foremost figure Of the
world
i think that Henry Grady and VIII
liam Mckinley, President and pri-
vate citizen, linked in the noblest
mission that moves the energies OF
men. were also the most fortunate
OF mortaIs In dying at a time and In
a way to emphasize and underscore for
immortality all that was best and
nobiest in their work and in their
speech. ~,
What a sorrowful thing 1t is for
public man to live too longl
What a glorious thing 1t is to die In
perihelion, and be forever with the
SUM-
The mission of Mckinley was ended:
He had finished his work and was
worthy OF his rest. The route to 1t
was dramatic, but in the main pain
less and swift, and the flowers among
which he fell were not more fragrant
than the memories which survive him.
The mission of Roosevelt has just
begun.
lie is a different man and he has a
different mission.
IL one should seek to find in this
tragic horror the meaning OF that
Providence (which moves In a mys-
terious way it's wonders TO perform
there must be at least significance
in the characters Of the men who I'LL
the central space.
The task of the Peacemaker is end
ed. The smooth, soft and kindly day
of diplomacy Is over.
The work Of the builder and the
master begins.
Roosevelt Is the prophet and priest
of ''the strenuous life" He Is
brave. outspoken man. He has never
worn a collar, and has never recog-
ptzed a boss. He is incarnate action,
and embodied courage. He is the
genius of progress, and his fierce and
resistless energy must be set by Prov
idence to the strenuous period OF
the Republics life.
Who that forecasts the future does
not see the need of strong hand at
the helm Of state? Whether we VIII
ar no. and past all the protest OF rae
tion. the Republic is sweeping out OF
isolation into majestic competition
with the powers Of the world. II Is
an age of commerce, and the seas are
the highways of rivalry in trade. But
the Lion and the Bear growl behind
the gunwales of competition, and the
time may come when the battlesnip
shall be the escort of the merchant
marine. World-policies are forming;
colonial governments are IN process,
the full grown battle for the markets