Waterbury Democrat., 1901-09-19
\ MEMORY OF TIE DEAD.
Continued from Page one-)

or Elle Of1tOF Is nUSueu- 10 SOlNG AnS meaning of this mute and melancholy mystery is beyond human reach and human comprehension. The plaintiye cry of the Hebrew King when the chiefs of his people were stricken down How are the mighty fallen ex- presses the sadness of this hour. In the shadow of the black cloud that overhangs our nation millions of loving hearts silently ache with 9 bleeding anguish; for the bullet that laid our president low has stunned us all. We are appalled, before the mystery, that a life so noble. a life of such honor and integrity. q life without q bIemish, life endowed with those highest and nOblest virtues that lend dignity and force to character and moral beauty to life should find an enemy capable of destroying it. The thought of the na- tiOn as it sits with its head bowed in sorrow. and it's heart uplifted in pray CT, is expressed in those words of the poet:
 His life was gentle. and the elements So Mixed in him. that Nature might
 stand up
 And say to all the world, this was a
 man.
 In the days that have elapsed since that fatal shot was fired thirteen days ago, the nation has been reviewing his life It has followed the successive steps of his career from his birth at Niles. O., his removal at the age of 9, To Poland in the same state. his en- llstment as q private in the army at l9. his brilliant military career until the end of the rebellion. his subseduent study of law. his settlement in Can ton, his honorable career in congress. his service as governor of Ohio. and his career as president It has recalled from the fact that his life adorned as it was with noble traits and successful deeds was built upon a beautifully symmetrical character whose crowninp virtue was Christian faith. and that rom the time he assumed the duties or church membership. at the age of It, until the end of his useful and hon orable career as an efficient and earn est worker in the great enterprises of the Methodist church. he showed fine whole world how a Christian could meet the greatest possible emergencies or life and show an adaptabiIity to every particular occasion and every peculiar environment The nation has learned also in the review that inc warm tints of loves delicate coIorfnr so blended in his regal nature as to make him so tender husband that his home life illustrated the ideal of do. nestle happiness. In the review of his life the fact has been reimpressed upon the heart of the nation that hon. esty, integrity, and courage were all the inheritance he had with which to start iife's battle. but with these as his heritage he became. in his public and private life. the embodiment of personal honesty, the exponent of n delicate sense of honor and dignity. combined with q cathOlicity of spirit large enough to offer the generouS hospitality of recognition and sympathy to all sorts and conditions of men whether theg were Roman Catholic Protestant or Hebrews: of him it could have been truthfully said: He sa- luted the world and extended the hand of friendship to the human race"
 He listened to the voice of all. but was Obedient only to the voice of con science. because he was ever animated by the desire to further the cause of the right. the good and the true. But
 
 today. joining with our saddened and sorrOwful nation in services for the dead it is not fitting that we should pause at each step of our presidents remarkable career to review his pub- lie acts. nor to analize his intellectual qualities and his public character and works. nor to summarize the great achievements that gave him foremost place among America's Christian statesmen Overwhelmed by grief as We are that such life as that of our president has been ended by an assas- sins bullet at such a service as this it seems to me it would be q fitting inquiry to make: What is life? There are two ways of answering this in- quiry; one is that life is the product of impersOnal law. the other that it is the embodiment of a personal pur- pose According to the first answer life is only an affair of circumstances. and each mans career is but the sum total of his circumstances, in a word of his environment According to the second answer. each human life comes into this world in order to fulfill a distinct specific purpose. it has fuHc- ton appointed it in the economy of our race. q definite role to play in the drama of life. Thus viewed life be. comes a thing of tremendous import and unspeakable dignity, because il is the sacred movement of one who lives in conscious harmony with the eternal. the souls life being ever fell response to the divine call, conscious yielding of itself to the divine impulse 1t waits for God to point out the patti of duty, and then it joyousIy runs ir the way If Gods commandments: it has a conscious and joyous realization oi Gods idea or plan of work for it to do Every human life is a divine detail ment The recognition of this fact gives to life diTectness. simplicity. co herence. unity, inspiriataion, grandeur victory, in one word. completeness. II Is the secret of the worlds great heroes and leaders: 1t was the secret of Noah. Abraham. Moses, John. Paul Augustine, Chrysostom, Columbus Cromwell. Livingston. Lincoln The man who has faith in his work as be ing Gods employment for him is thu man who feels that it is a sublime