New-York tribune., 1905-06-12
ESTIMATE OF MR.. GODDARD
The Reo. Dir. Slicer Tells of III
Worb, at Memorial Service.

ann
Goddard was held yesterday at the Unitarian
80, 90 the Holy Apostles 4th-ave and 10Th
81 and a neighborhood service at 1:oo p m. at
.hs warren Goddard house. No. 24S East
e4tb-st At the service at the Church OF 'he
,nos.les the Rev Thomas r. Slicer SAID;
-r,;s service of memorial is no perfunctory
,rihute 10 Norton Goddard, for l am speahlIs
20 his lovers and friends in the churcI he - -
ored by his services. We are not lIee s.so- 70
- S.,, the life Of a great inventor or discoverer,
or of even a captain of industry In the oi
sense Of the term. -. ,,;- ,or
ents every advantage of education, culture anu anu
travel 1t is not enough to say these ava IS
were neglected or wasted. TOT TIL, Ia ;,e,,lar
done as well as he in this regard Inc sliie .
thing was that he saw in his position not SIM
Div q privilege but an opportunity OF duty.
He early discovered character was tHe oiiI!
49,, 800, can cantalize and that riches consist
in being not having. That was the prime uIs @
covery The OF having is 10 give, oL oeIIAs
strong to lift of possessing knowledge TO teacn.
His was a difficult and complex character, IoI
2 clear intelligence and simple character are
very different things. He was like pahlnpsess
,nanuscript with the record of the past oVerlaid
bv other writing, and he was worth studying IN
exactly the ratio he was difficult to understand
HIS motives were always clear; 1t was the way
thev caused him 10 act that was sometimes
curious
If was a wonderful thing to see how men who
ala NOT know him caught the right idea OF ms
life. A rabbi who perhaps never SPOKE 10 IiI MN,
said TO me OF him: "He chose the most populous
centres TO be alone, and where IN poIltlcal nIe
men are most clamorous he was most reticent
He was a profoundly religious man. He ana
nts brother presented themselves to Join this
church. although they had been born in it and
always formed part of the congregation, TO sig
naiize the deepening religious life within them
selves Very strong with him was the idea or
living close to God. but very remote was the
notion of closeting himself from his fellow men
There was a positive fascination for him in the
character of Jesus Christ. and he was impatient
of any criticism of the veracity OF the Gospel
lanes Martineau and Phillips Brooks were the
TWO teachers of Norton Goddard
It is a delicate matter for man to give MN
salf IN rlnrestrained contact with life. He IS SO
easily misunderstood and abused. But the
harvest waits for the sower VINO seemed q
spendthrift as he sowed, and he lhaI saves ia9
own life shall lose it, is a splendid spirltual
aphorisne. - IT., ,b
friends He was no fanatic. but an enthusias.
with ordered enthusiasm When he was asked
why he lived IN the tenement house district ne
said he preferred the friends ne nae Ihere 70 70
those he met at hts club He liked the men OF
fhe tenement houses and believed in them, for
thev seemed TO be real.
Ea was never a professional reformer. He
never accommodated himself to any man con-
yiction. A man with his mind firmly mace up
was TO him noble, but he had only withering
contempt for him who knew not what MS nlliio
was. n ho
1feved that public service was the highest rune
ton of the mind. He did not regard his busl-
ness as simply opportunity for gain he
never forgot it carried on by the co-opefa-
ton Of The State has maze II pOSStole "
carry business on, and he recognized the DEBT
he owed the State in consequence.
The citizen puts all he has into the State; the
adventurer takes all he can out Of the state.
Norton Goddard was a true citizen. and be-
reved that men owe their best to the com
1nunity IN which they live.
He had as Ear as I know, ambition outside
the city Of his birth, but here must speak care
fully. He might have gratifed his ambition 10
the utmost If he had not been the KING O. OF poll
OF office If ne had agreed beforehand to make
the division.
His two great achievements We're the forma-
ton of the Anti Policy Society and the exposure
of the connection OF the directors of the West
ern Union Telegraph Company with the pool
of the city.
None Of us believed the directors knew they
-wers partners in the violation OF the law, but
held If they did not they were in false po-
sition, directing by names, but not by efforts
Ii they did know it he held he should endeavol
10 break down the compartments OF their minds
which were devoted to law-abiding and law-vio.
lating purposes, respectively. For he urged il
was inequitable for corporation to hold a fran
chise from the city for business which in its
conclusion led to a breach of the law.
Has he succeeded? In the city of Washington
the precedent of NeW-York in This matter has
lately been quoted.
What kind OF work shall we carry on in his
name? We should love men. II the men like
Norton Goddard could be multiplied to ten thou
sand no evil could long survive There are Sc
Few with true unselfishness-hardly a few score
Inis man should not have died am not ar
falsn4IlS heaven. He was not careful OF him.
set. But in the last analysis should we hus-
paho our resources carefully for years or burn
ourselves out In one winters night? Norton
theirs. O'i-ei' ui''ild'e 'eo
was he faultiess? Men who accomplish things
are eccentric, for the eccentric secures revolu.
IONS; t1ey are impulsive. and their impulses
overcome the inertia of paralytic minds He haf
ms IauiEs. but they looked like virtues beside
fass .i1eoS ~, on some other men, but con-
or friend to a friend who Knows not which Is
,1 sreater, MS feeling Of sorrow at his loss O,
his sense OF JOY at having known him