[untitled]

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY is probably as well beloved by the people of the United States as any chief executive of the nation ever has been. Though there is nothing like unanimity as to the wisdom of all his policies and official acts, the excellence of his personal character and his exemplification of the domestic virtues have appealed to the affections of the people. A murderous assault upon any President we have ever had, no matter how personally or politically unpopular he might have been, would at once have aroused the intensest indignation. This is enormously enhanced in the case of President McKinley because of the peculiar sentiment entertained toward him on account of his admirable and attractive personality. Still further every right-minded citizen shares a deep sense of shame and disgrace that our country harbors a class of men of whom Leon Czolgosz is a representative, who out of simple hatred of lawful authority rejoice in an attempt to take the life of the President, not because they have any grievance against him, but simply because he is President. Though we are profoundly thankful that it is not possible to attribute this tragedy to political passion, in one sense the very absence of such a motive humiliates the nation the more. Political partisanship will lead men to strange lengths, and, in a measure, it is possible to comprehend the motives that animated a Booth or a Guiteau, but there was nothing of that sort in the case of this Polish Anarchist. His deed was simply the outcome of a hatred of all law and authority. It is marvellous that the President could have sustained two such wounds and have lived. But neither bullet penetrated a vital organ. The best surgical attendance in the country was immediately available, and the outlook now seems to be for a happy recovery. That this may be so is the prayer of the whole nation.