William McKinley

     William McKinley, late President of the United States, is dead and buried, buried in the quiet churchyard of the home-folk he loved so well, and by whom he was beloved, at Canton, Ohio. The home-going from Buffalo to Washington, from Washington to Canton, through throngs of uncovered heads, was a sad scene but a magnificent and just tribute to the man.
     He died at Buffalo, this State, Saturday morning, September 14th, at 2:15. Death was due to blood-poisoning from gangrene in the internal wounds made by the assassin’s bullet. The people had hoped and prayed for his recovery, and up to the Thursday night before his death they believed he would recover. Then the bulletins changes and all day and all night, Friday, all over this land they watched and waited for information, and when the sad news of the end came it was a shock as great as the first; and for nearly a week, from one end of the continent to the other, and on all the distant islands of the seas that have come under its protection during his administration, the flag of Freedom has floated at half-mast, darkened with the emblem of mourning for the Good President. And not at home only, not in our wide domain alone were the sad honors paid; the muffled drum-beat of the funeral march for the murdered President was heard ’round the world.
     The President’s last conscious hour on earth was spent with his invalid wife, to whom he devoted a lifetime of care.
     He died unattended by a minister of the gospel, but his last words were an humble submission to the will of God in whom he believed. He was reconciled to the cruel fate to which an assassin’s bullet had condemned him, and faced death in the same spirit which marked his long and honorable career.
     President McKinley was a broad-minded patriot. He loved his country and his countrymen. He was tolerant of the opinions of others; he was conspicuously exempt from eccentricity, hot-headedness, narrow-minded intolerance and rashness. He tried to do right, and, above all, he was calm, conservative, prudent and sensible. He was a sober-minded statesman, and a safe President.
     Farewell to William McKinley, the good citizen—the brave soldier—the twice honored chief magistrate. His life is his monument. His deeds are his epitaph. He served the Nation, and to-day this great Nation is bowed in grief and wonders why this had to be. It can be best answered by his own words: “It is God’s way. His will be done, not ours.”