The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1907-12-13

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powers of God upon human hearts.
AS this earth lies ensphered in the
all.encompassing sky, SO. could we but
see 1t. each uman soul has It's real
being embosomed In God and His
eternal love. .f.. t.NH.I...|. F..
| II may be admitted that our lInowl.
edge of the life that holds in being our
bodies is limited, but surely we do
know that IL is there-the eye, and
the voice give demonstration to its
/ presence.
Men may SO plunge themselves into
the present-may become so absorbed
in lands and goods and little gods as
to lose the consciousness of their spir.
itual side. -.f. ... -,..a ....... /.
BY our very make-up-by our spir-
itual needs, by our hopes, by our
| friendships whose very sweetness
yieldeth proof that they were born for
immortal uses-threads from which
the wonderful tapestries of heaven
i are woven, Almighty God has caused
us to crave for their realization and
living. And that God implanted hun,
ger cannot be a delusion. Surely He
who implanted it within us, planted II
not to falsely lead us. ...
And so when we think of our broth
ers whose names have been called to-
day. from whom we have been sepa-
rated, we can and ought to think of
them as still living. This surely is the
teaching of our order. When at the
hour of eleven, the eleven strokes are
heard, they teach and tell of life
beyond, being lived by our absent
brothers.
William M. Robertson.
The first to leave us during the
past year was he who one year ago
stood where / now stand and ad-
dressed you. 1t Is not probable that
he thought that his own days were
so few as they afterward proved, and
yet he may have been prompted by
an intuition of what was soon to come.
His words in closing his address were:
These memorial days, my friends,
are reminders to us who are living
that we are Fastening to the hereafter.
Therefore let us strive to so live that
when the summons comes, we may
meet all our brothers in the grand
lodge on high and dwell with them in
brotherly love"
In less than two months after our
last memorial service the summons
came to him, and he passed to the
higher life.
William M. Robertson was born on
the 23rd of January, 1S48, in the viii
| lage of Andes, Delaware county, in
the state of New York. His ancestry
came from Scotland. His father was
a soldier in the civil war, entering as
private and rising to lieutenancy.
He himself at the early age of sixteen
years, three months and twelve days,
was sworn into the service as a mem
Der of Company D, One Hundred and
Forty-second Illinois infantry, and
served during the last few months of
the war. His successful enlistment
was only made after three several at
tempts had failed, on account of his
youth and slender physical proper
lions.
After the close of the war he spent
several years in an academical school
| in Mount Morris, Illinois, and then en-
tered upon the study of law. He was
admitted as an attorney at law in the
state of Illinois. On December 30,
1870 at Forreston, H., he was married
ried life extended over a period of
thirty-six years, almost all of which
were lived in our Madison county.
At the early age of twenty-seven he
was made member of the convention
that met in 1875 to formulate a consti-
he acquired a statewide reputation as
an attorney and became very promi-
nent in the management of the polit-
ical party to which he belonged. s..
| He held numerous public Offices.
In 1887 he was appointed by the
governor of the state to represent Ne
braska at the celebration of the cen
tennial of the adoption of the consti-
tuition of our national government,
which was held in Philadelphia. He
was from 1883 to 1892 the representa-
tive of his party from this state upon
its national committee. President
Harrison appointed him register of
the United States land Office at Neigh,
which office he filled for three years.
His name received most prominent
mention as a candidate for governor
of the state on several occasions. He
served as mayor of our city, was a
member of it's commercial club, past
exalted ruler of this lodge, a member
of Mathewson post of the Grand Army
of the Republic, and was pronounced
by the clergyman who officiated at his
funeral to have been "the foremost
citizen of our city" He surely had
very high place in the estimation
| of all who knew him Tn the MOVE