Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 10.djvu/276

 THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS

runs the note of solemn warning, as in Kipling 's noble hymn, ' * Lest We Forget. ' '

The next day sped the bolt of doom, and for a week after — in an agony of dread, broken by illusive glimpses of hope that our prayers might be answered — the nation waited for the end. Nothing in the glorious life we saw gradu- ally waning was more admirable and exemplary than its close. The gentle humanity of his words when he saw his assailant in danger of summary vengeance, ' ' Do not let them hurt him " ; his chiv- alrous care that the news should be broken gently to his wife ; the fine courtesy with which he apol- ogized for the damage which his death would bring to the great Exhibition; and the heroic resignation of his final words, "It is God's way; His will, not ours, be done," were all the in- stinctive expressions of a nature so lofty and so pure that pride in its nobility at once softened and enhanced the nation 's sense of loss. The Re- public grieved over such a son, — but is proud for ever of having produced him. After all, in spite of its tragic ending, his life was extraordi- narily happy. He had, all his days, troops of friends, the cheer of fame and fruitful labor; and he became at last,

"On fortune's crowning slope, The pillar of a people 's hope, The center of a world's desire."

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