Mr. McKinley

MR. MCKINLEY was the last man whom one would think would become the victim of the bloodthirsty anarchist. Beloved by the people, respected and admired by every nation, the head of the most free and liberal government in the world, a man of exemplary and lovable character, it is hard to see how he can have excited the enmity of these social fanatics. One who knows the President and who has had the privilege of conversing with him and studying his splendid character, writes us as follows:—
     “Mr. McKinley is a most companionable, lovable man—a gentleman. I had the pleasure and honor of knowing him when he sat in the House of Representatives, not an eloquent, but a forceful speaker who brought his arguments home and clinched them. I was in the service, as secretary, of one of his most bitter opponents politically, but this fact made no difference to the genial, kindly man who was soon to be President of the United States. Again I met him when he was President-elect. He knew that, in my humble way, I had done everything to defeat his election and I told him that I had voted for his opponent, Mr. Bryan; yet the smile of welcome was as kindly, the grasp of the hand as warm, as if I had been his strongest supporter. There was a twinkle in his eyes, however, when he said how gratified he was that one of the first messages of congratulation to reach him was sent by Mr. Bryan. He felt the weight of his responsibilities—responsibilities greater than he ever dreamed of—but he was not the man to shirk them. Such was my opinion of William McKinley then, and the world knows how steady the hand has been which has guided the ship of state through the troublous waters of the past few years.
     “There was but one man in public life who could compare with McKinley in geniality, approachableness and sympathy for the humblest of his constituents. This was the late Thomas A. Hendricks, vice-President of the United States, the idol of the Democratic party and a warm friend of Mr. McKinley. Their characters and purposes were much the same, although they differed in politics, and Mr. Hendricks, as the older man in years and in political wisdom, foresaw the possibilities before the congressman from Ohio who was soon to be elected governor of that great state.
     “Into the privacy of the domestic life of President McKinley we need not look. The world knows how devotedly attached he is to his wife,—still a lover as in the early days, when as yet a struggling young lawyer he wooed and won her. His life is an example to the people of his country, who in William McKinley have an honest, capable and hardworking executive—a man who has the interests of his country sincerely at heart. Without regard to party there can but be one wish, one hope—that the President of the United States, the president of the whole nation, may be spared to end his brilliant career in glorious peace and honor. As for Mrs. McKinley, the loving wife and the noble help-mate, the hearts of the people will go out to her in sympathy, not only in the United States but in all lands the world over.”