St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-09-18

ming to work, the pure ana Shapely life
of William Mckinley shall be imprinted
on the nation as it could not be in any
other way. o, we said, he must not die,
we need his presence, his counsel, his
words.
"From the high place whereon our votes
Had borne him-clear, calm, earnest, fell
His strong words like the prelude notes
| OF some great anthem yet to swell"
His address at Buffalo, only the day
before, opened to our vision long and
brightly widening perspective ofdomestic
and international good will; our souls
swelled with anticipation of his skillful
leadership along that path of"higher and
nobler effort for our own and the wide
worlds good" And through all these
ten DAYS since, we have fondly hoped he
would live, to give the nation the ripe
fruitage OF his consummate abilities, his
sagacity in affairs, his generous and
many sided manhood. Let him live and
not die. But no it was the will Of God
that if the silver cord was loosed, life
must go out, for so it is written in the fixed
law of life and death. But now that
death has come, it is the will of God that
the life of our noble chiettain shall enter
into the life of the nation to ennobleit, as
it never could have done except for this
tragic taking off. This is Gods way.
Some part of this heaven. appointed
result is being brought to pass already
in the solemnity of the hour and the hush
of the nation as in the presence of the
great white throne. The sacredness of
law is more profoundly felt, the majesty
and benefcence of an orderly government
seem to fill the very air. The flag of our
union floats more proudly since under it
Major Mckinley marched in the stressful
days of civil war, and to maintain its
honor, gave the strength of his
manhood thro' years of intense and
consecrated toll. We love our country
more because he loved it with a
pure and absorbing love; because
with not one jot of selfseeking be gave
himself to it, and now, as it proves, has
given himself for il. Is it any wonder
that the hearts of seventy millions are
melted as into one, and the spirit oigood
will caught from his generous heart goes
out every way covering the land with
its fragrance.
1t is Gods way, his will be done, in
turning this tragedy from the track OF
its shame and dreadfulness to the highway
of his overruling, to the SOLDERING and
sweetening of the life of our nation. His
will be done in the shaping Of thousands
of younglives to the pattern fpatriotism
which has stood 50 clear in its high
office. His will be done in filling the land
with more of the life virtues that we have
seen in this career, more temperate
habits, hard work, brave fighting and
gentle manners; more of the purity and
sweetness OF home life, dignity of speech,
fairness towards those on the other side;
more Christian breath of charity and
reverence for sacred things. If our Presi-
dent could return to us with a message
from the other world the light of the
great white throne upon his face, am
sure he would not change one word of
that address on the esplanade which now
indeed stands as his vaedctory-his plea
for mutual respect, confidence and friend
ship" shall deepen and endure his call
for "higher and nobler efforts for the
worlds good" his Earnest prayer that
God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity,
happiness and peace to all our neighbors,
to all the peoples and powers of the
EARTH"
He would not, am sure, take back
one syllable of that prayer with which be
fell into the arms of his attendants
poor fellow, he did not know what he
was doing may God forgive him."
He would not nee1 to change the deli
cate charge he laid on those about him,
to break it carefully to Mrs. Mckinley.
No truer aspiration could he breath
than, Nearer my God to thee!"
Nor would his last spoken words need
one touch of revision. Goodbye, it is
Gods way; His will be done" Yes, it is
Gods way to bring order out of chaos;
to turn the defeat brought by death into
victory; to bring light to the world by
way of the darkness that hung over
Golgotha. 1t is Gods will that our
nation rise from this blow, more sober
minded, more resolute in righteous
ness; with purer aim and more abound
ing good will. President Mckinley has
been Joined to the noble army of martyrs.
O let our gratitude to God be profound
and sincere, that he gave grace to those
three in the presidential succession who
fell before their time, without cause, to
dignity their high office with noble
patriotism, to leave names unsullied with
selfseekrng, adorned with religious faith,
with devotion to their country, and good
will to mankind.
Good bye" President Mckinley.
ut is Gods way His will be DONE"
REV. DIR. PICKELLs' ADDRESS.
A week ago l expressed hope that
Almighty God would be better to us
than our fears, in answer to a whole
nations prayers, and spare that life
which had been so cruelty and wickedly
assailed two days before. We have
learnt that it was not his good pleasure
to spare that life, nor spare this nation
the agony OF sorrow and shame conse-
quent upon the success of that infamous
act of the cowardly assassin which has
filled human hearts the world over with
horror, indignation, and distress. This
great crime which has flung a profound
gloom over all nations of earth stands
out unique and unrivalled in the mas.
siveness Of its villainy and atrocity. A
man, the pick, the cream, the browning
production of the best elements Of
modern civilization as operating on this
continent, who as school boy, a stu.
dent, a soldier, lawyer, a statesman
had passed through his life with TN.
stained reputation, ever growing more
and more in all the qualities that make
greatness, ever growing more and more
into the esteem, the confidence, the affec-
ton OF those who knew him best, and
LoI,