The Topeka state journal., 1906-06-30


A few days ago prominent and
wealthy New Yorker had a tumultuous
journey into eternity. without mo-
ment's warning an assassin's bullet
sent his spirit into the Hereafter. AS
his body slipped to the hard floor the
sounds of revelry in that gay New
York playhouse we're turned to shrieks
of panic. For hours his corse lay as
1t had fallen on the floor OF that de-
serted theater. covered by the cloth
from a nearby wine table.
Whether or not Stanford White was
guilty of the things for which Harry
Thaw purports to have killed him,
men know that his life was not that
Of man of honor. At least none de-
ffend him. and he was commonly re-
ported to be a follower of that free
and easy life which no man Of honor
and who has respect for his family
wiz indulge in.
In other words, Stanford White was
a honorable man, and already men
are inclined to Justify his killing. No
unfaltering trust, such as IS recon-
mended by Bryant in "Thanatopsis,' .
sustained and soothed him as he ap-
prosched his bier. He died the death
OF the unrighteous.
What a contrast was the last end
boz another victim of an assassin's bull
let which is still fresh in the public
memoryi He was man of clean life
and pure motives; and although mil
lions differed from him in many of his
ideas, the nation was sorrow-stricken
when he fell before the murderous at
tack Of the assassin. Illustrious as a
statesman, he had child's simple
faith in the future life; and as the
spirit Of William Mckinley stepped
into the bark that should bear 1t out
across the Bar of Death into Eeternity.
he simply said. at is Gods way; His
WILL not ours. be done"
The favorite poem-and song-of
the late Thomas Emmet Dewey was
Tennyson's expression of faith, Gross
ing the Bar" In it is the same hope
that is given utterance by Baalam:
LET me die the death OF the righteous,
and let my last end be like his!"
Sunset and evening star.
And one clear call for me:
And may there be no moaning Of the bar
When I put out to sea.
But such a tide as, moving, seems a sleep
Too deep for sound or foam
When that which came from out the
boundless deep
Turns again home.
Twilight. and evening bell,
And after that. the dark:
And may there be no sadness or farewell
When I embark.
For though from out this bourne Of time
The flood may bear me far.
I hope to meet my Pilot face to face
When have crossed the bar.
In a little volume Of Thomas
a. Kempis' limitation Of Christ" in
the possession OF the editor of the
Kingman Journal, these verses of
Tennyson's are written on the fyleaf
They were placed there by a mission
ary in Zanzibar. East Africa, who
formerly owned the volume. and who
appended this stanza:
Darkness, and dying breath,
And after that the dawn;
And calm shall be the Afterwards Of
Death
when I am gone.
For though far from these shores Of wave
Bfy bark must ind its way,
I hope to reach that Harbor without harm
Where all is day.
Great is this rnystery-is Death.
Men cannot fathom it, yet all must
meet It. Every individual must cross
the bar. Who would not cross it with
the calm and abiding faith of William
Mckinley. giving peace and freedom
from fear as ones bark sets out from
the shores of Time. rather than to be
thrust out amidst a dark storm as
may have been the case of Stanford
White?