The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-02-13

letins might be received, and we had
frequent stops in the night to get out
and read these bulletins. The vice pres
ident was anxious to know more of the
particulars than had been received, and
late in the night there came telegram
in response to one of mine, at little
station, which as / remember it, read
about like this, The president is resting
comfortably When read that dispatch
to the president, he burst out, That is
fine, that is gSod.' His whole manner in,
dicated his devotion TO and solicitude for
President Mckinley, Further along the
dispatch gave more details in regard to
the nature OF the wound We sat long
time in silence, and finally | said, Mr.
President, this is the greatest night of
your life. 1t is not possible that man
of President McKinley's age can be so
wounded apd live. The responsibilities
and the duties of the highest Office in
the greatest nation on earth will rest
upon your shoulders He dropped his
head and said, ., hope not, hope not
Tonight ! wish to emphasize that this
expression came from the heart and was
genuine and sincere A moment after
that, ii was about 3 o'clock in the morn
ing, he said that he would 90 to bed;
and, as I shook his hand he said, Good
night. Come aud see me That night
was the last time that | saw or spoke
with Roosevelt. ! did not see him after
he assumed the duties of the Office OF
president, for the reason that / was not
in accord with his political program, but
the charm of his manner and his warm
heartedness left an indelible impression
upon my mind.
"You all remember the result OF that
momentous tragedy, You were all i'm
pressed with the strength and wisdom
with which he took up the duties and
responsibilities of his dead chief Yet !
deem it no small honor to be permitted,
on this occasion to add one more trib.
ute to the greatness Of one of our great
est Americans, student, soldier, and
statesman, Theodore Roosevelt"
Rev. Frazer Meter.
Rev Fraser Metzger of Randolph, in.
troduced as a disciple of Roosevelt, de-
liyered the eulogy OF the evening. 1t was
not only a brilliant grafton, but a per.
sonal tribute, inspired by his association
with and admiration tor the dead states,
man.
The speaker referred to that great in.
fuenee which had so exalted and in
spired our national life and to the man.
ner in which the great leader had been
mourned by all Americans regardless
of their political Affiliations.
Roosevelt was Misunderstood like all
- al tav N al ,,f
the eommonest charges against him was
that he was a demagogue and self-seek-
er. / once suggested 10 him, in response
to his request, that perhaps he might
with profit eliminate the pronoun L from
his speeches, With tears in his eyes he
turned to me and said.
"0h, Why do people misunderstood
me sol | have had a surfeit Of fame. !
want no more. want only to do my
duty. | must do il. | cannot do other
wise Like another of his critics, at that
moment. ] saw the soul of Roosevelt"
Mr.. Metzger referred to the delightful
home life of the Roosevelts and recalled
the former presidents tribute to his
family THE world has reason to find
fault with me- said Roosevelt, but it
can't find fault with my family One
Of the biggest things he bestowed on the
American people was the sanctitiy of the
home, and one Of the most sacred inAu.
ences in Roosevelt's life was that of
Edith Roosevelt, who held him up to
such standards a. / doubt If he could
ever have attained alone The inspira-
ton of his book, The Great Adventure
came out Of the soul of the noble WON
an. who lived by his side.
"And his sons, fighting, bleeding and
dying overseas for the flag, Surely there
dropped dead over there the fighting
eagle of this great American family
The orator referred to Roosevelt as
having the viking spirit tempered with
the spirit of the Galahad, and declared
that if he had been president, the Unit.
ed States would have gotten into the
European war at a time when we could
have given even greater assistance than
we rendered at the end. He paid n trib
ute to Roosevelt's devotion to the church
"He once said: There may be some
people who never need to go to church
but I'm not one OF them. I must have
the inspiration Of the House of God, the
constant inspiration of righteousness.
Roosevelt he continued, never con-
sidered popular acclaim, but he created
It, Arguments for eXpediency and polit-
ical shrewdness never counted with
Roosevelt He had but one standard; Is
it right p"
Mr.. Metzger reached the realm of true
oratory when he said that the two great
carions Roosevelt had left us were serv-
ice and patriotism.
He was not in favor Of league to
enforce peace, but a league to enforce
righteousness. We are nos going back to
the days of ease and elf-seeking so
long as the spirit Of Roosevelt leads us -
applause.
The speaker called attention to the
strong natiunalism of Roosevelt and de.
cared that his spirit would teach US
that the false cry of internationalism
was as dangerous in its way as pacifcism
or bolshevism.
I'VE must first of all love our own ma
ton before we can love or help another
nation. The spirit OF Roosevelt should
save us from losing our national souls
through the menace of internationalism
which appeals first of all to weaklings
and sham altruists, The man who fought
for the flag, who would fain have died
for it, would say to us, first of all: BE
We first of all Americans
s=-==--=--=