Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-02-28

the fine courtesy with which he
apologized for the damage which his
death would bring to the great ex-
hibition: and the heroic resignation of
his final words, 1T is Gods way. His
will. not ours, be done,' were all the
instructive expressions of a nature so
lofty and so pure that pride in its nobil-
ity at once softened and enhanced the
Nations sense of loss. The Republic
grieved over such son-but is proud
forever OF having produced him. After
ALL in spite of Its tragic ending. his
life was extraordinarily happy. He had
ell his days. troops Of friends, the
cheer of fame and fruitful labor; and
he became at last
ION fortunes browning slope,
The pillar of peoples hope,
The center Of worlds desire"
He was fortunate even in his I'M
timely death, for an event so tragical
called the world imperatively to the
Immediate study of his life and charac-
ter. and thus anticipated the sure
praises of posterity.
Every young and growing people has
to meet, at moments, the problems of
it's destiny. Whether the question
comes. as in Egypt from sphinx
symbol of the hostile forces of ON
riipotent nature, who Furnishes with
instant death our failure to understand
her meaning; or whether it comes, as
in Jerusalem. from the Lord of Hosts,
who commands the building of His
temple, it comes always with the warm
ing that the past is past, and expert
ence vain. Your fathers, where are
they? and the prophets, do they live
forever? The fathers are dead; the
prophets are silent: the questions are
new. and have no answer but in time.
When the horny outside case which
protects the infancy of a chrysalis ma
tor suddenly bursts, and. in a single
abrupt shock, it finds itself floating on
wings which had not existed before.
whose strength it has never tested,
among dangers it can not foresee and
g without experience to measure
every motion is problem, and every
hesitation may be an error. The past
gives no clue to the future. The faith
ers. where are they? and the prophets,
do they live forever? We are our
selves the fathers, We are ourselves
the prophets, The questions that are
put to us we must answer without de-
lay, without help-for the sphinx al
lows no one to pass.
AT such moments, which have al
ready occurred at least twice in the
brief history of our own lives, we may
be humbly grateful to have had lead
ers simple in mind, clear in vision-as
far as human vision can safely extend
-penetra ting in knowledge Of men,
supple and flexible under the strains
and pressures of society, instinct with
the energy of new life and untried
strength, cautious, calm, and, above all,
gifted in a supreme degree with the
most surely victorious of all political
Evirtues-the genius of infinite patience.
The obvious elements which enter
into the fame of a public man are few
and by no means reconcile. The man
who fills a great station in period of
change, who leads his country success
fully through time of crisis; who, by
his power of persuading and con-
trolling others, has been able to COM
mand the best thought of his age, so
as to leave his country in a moral or
material condition in advance of where
he found it-such a mans position in
history is secure. If, in addition to
this. his written or spoken words pos
sess the subtle quality which carry
them far and lodge them in mems
hearts; and. more than all, if his ut
terances and actions, while informed
with a lofty morality, are yet tinged
with the glow of human sympathy, the
fame of such man will shine like a
beacon through the mists of ages-an
object of reverence, of imitation, and of
love. 1t should be to us an occasion
of solemn pride that in the three great
crises Of our history such a man was
not denied us. The moral value to a
nation OF a renown such as Washing
tons and Lincoln's and McKinley's is
beyond all computation. No loftier
ideal can be held up to the emulation
of ingenious youth. With such ex-
amples we can not be wholly ignoble.
Grateful as we may be for what they
did: let us be still more grateful for
what they were. While our daily be-
ing. our public policies. still feel the in
fiue nee of their work. let us pray that
in our spirits their lives may be volu-
BILE. calling US upward and onward.
There is not one of us but feels
prouder of his native land because the
august figure of Washington presided
over it's beginnings; no one but vows it
a tenderer love because Lincoln poured
out his blood for it; no one but must
feel his devotion for his country re-
newed and kindled when he remem-
bers how Mckinley loveo, revered, and
served it. showed in his life how a citi-
zen should live. and in his last hour
taught us how gentleman could die.
In deep cf1agrin at the recent per-