Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-13

of our martyred hero. Rev Charles
Edward Locke, D. D.
1.-The Life and Martyrdom of vii
liam Mckinley, the Ideal American,
was the subject of a memorial sermon
preached by Rev. Charles Edwart
Locke, pastor of the First Methods
church, last night Eight years ag'
the past week President Mckinley wa
mortally wounded by the assassinf
bullet, and it was in commemoration o
the eighth anniversary of the TRACED!
that DR.. Locke preached the sermon.
DR.. Locke, who was an intimate
friend of the Mckinley family, being
a son of their early pastor, preached
the funeral sermon for the martyrdeC
president the day after his death
the home of John G. Milburn, presiden
of the Buffalo exposition, where th'
president died. This was the onl!
service that Mrs. Mckinley was able
to attend. Aside from the widow
Colonel Roosevelt and members Of the
cabinet were present at this service.
In his memorial sermon last nigh
DR.. Locke took for his text, Daniel ga
"He was faithful He said in part
Anniversary of Tragedy
eight years ago last Monday this
nation was plunged into submerging
anxiety by the hand of the assassin
After eight days of alternating glad
ness and gloom, of hope and forebod-
ing a superb soul asCended to Its
triumphant coronation, and our nation
and our hearts have not yet recovered
their wonted serenity and security.
whether man hase fifty lived may
be determined by whether he is easily
forgotten. By this test William Nc
Kinley was among the manifest OF
men. AS was written of Daniel, so Ii
may be appropriately said of Mckinley
He was faithful And as the char
acteristic quality of the ancient He
brew prophet was his moral courage
SO tonight we may prot1tably consider
the moral courage of our martyreo
president.
physical courage and courage in bust
ness enterprises, but all of these ar
on a lower plane. Moral courage is th
bravery to do the right when questions
OF good and evil are involved, whici
may produce great personal misunder
standings, sacrifices. self-denials anC
suffering. The word courage is de
rived from the Latin word heart. Truly
The bravest are the tenderest, the
loving are the daring. Many a mar
who has had the physical courage t
face a cannon's mouth, or to risk his
life in rescuing drowning men, has
fallen an easy prey to the adversary
of his soul when some trial involving
his moral stamina has occurred.
Moral Courage True Test
"Daniel possessed such moral courage
that, although it led him TO the den ol
lions, he never ffinched. Moses refused
a kingdom when he declined to be
called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
Nehemiah's moral courage made hin
the rebuilder of Jerusalem. When Jo'
nah recovered his moral courage he wa'
ready to go to Nineveh, and wher
Bishop Cranmer repented of his weak
ness he held the hand which signed
his recantation in the flames until i
was consumed.
"It was moral courage which sus
tained Columbus in his quest, anC
which landed the Puritans at Ply
mouth Moral courafe was the foun'
dation of William Lloyd Garrison'i
character; and by it Lincoln was en-
abled to wait in patience, notwith'
standing an army of self-appointed ad
visers to the contrary, until the full
ness of time had come for the eman
cipation proclamation.
''Moral courage is the daring to ODE!
moral imperatives. Saul of Tarsu
said: L verify thought within mysel
that I ought to do many things con
trary to the name of Jesus of Naza
reth Then when light came to him
he said, Lord, what wilt thou hav,
me to dot There can be no mCra
realm unless honest men are true t,
their moral obligations. What mechan
ical energy is to the material univers
so is moral energy to the spiritua
world If a man is not true to hi
moral imperatives he thrusts himsel
FIJI aif cl1 in mo-
kingdom He who obeys the best ther
is in him is the freest of men: Cap
tive, though divinely free.
Was True to Principle
Looking back through the shor
= perspective of these years, the char
acter of William Mckinley seems t
have been beautified and strengthene,
to an unusual degree by moral cour
age AS a boy he chose to obey ant
humbly worship his mothers God, an,
was always with her in the temple o
prayer AS country lawyer his higl
ideals of transparent integrity Wer
not vitiated. AS a young soldier b
was patriot lighting not to slay hi
foes, but to maintain a principle H
filled all the responsible relationship
of son, brother husband and fathe
with rare devotion. AS a Statesman
this dominating quality of moral cour
against eve
the overtures of those whose hand
were full of bribes, and enabled hir
always to spurn the suggestions of cor
rupt lobbyists.
He was well born, though he wa
not reared in luxury. His father wa
a well-to-do ironworker, his mother
lovable Christian woman. The bon
of his boyhood was happy, hospitabi,
Christian home. He was a mother
made man. He could say with Wash
ington and Lincoln: 'All that l am an
all hope to be, / owe to my mother
and with Benjamin West: My moth
ers kiss made me a statesman
"At II he entered Allegheny colleg,
but left his college course in 1861 I
enter the army. In Col. r. B. HAYES
regiment, the Twenty third Ohio, h
proved himself a brave, unfinchin
and humane soldier He won a lieu
tenancy because at the battle of An
tietam he served hot coffee to the ia
tigued soldiers. In 1864, July 25, h