In Memoriam of President McKinley

A noble man of Christian mind,
     Esteemed by one and all,
Was borne from earthly pilgrimage
     By a cruel pistol ball.
By an anarchist of foreign birth,
     His life was stole away,
His manly form lies silent now
     To moulder and decay.

In the midst of life and strains of joy
     A villian [sic] loathsome came,
With treacherous grasp of friendship’s hand
     Did execute the same,
And by his vile contrivance,
     Was fired the fatal ball,
Which caused our noble President,
     To totter back and fall.

“I’m shot,” he cried and as back he fell,
     And clasped in friendship’s arm,
And when in agony he said,
     “Do not the villian [sic] harm.”
Remembering first that he who bled
     On Calvary’s cruel hill,
Did pray His father to forgive
     Those who his life did spill.

“God’s will,” he said, “not ours be done,”
     Ere earthly life was o’er,
And angels carried him on high,
     To Canaan’s brighter shore.
His earthly crown he laid aside,
     His deeds of valour won,
A crown of glory now he wears,
     In the bright kingdom come.

As soldier for his country fought,
     And helped to win her fame,
As son obeyed his father’s will,
     And bore his honored name.
As husband was devoted,
     To a true and faithful wife,
Who’s [sic] love was in return for his,
     More dearer than her life.

A statesman of the foremost type,
     Beloved by one and all,
Whose deeds of fame and valour,
     Received a nation’s call.
Promoted to the highest rank,
     The Presidential chair,
And nobly did he execute
     The charge within his care.

A darksome cloud o’ershades our land
     And millions mourn today,
While he who was admired by all,
     Lies silent in the clay;
His body finds a resting place
     To moulder and decay,
But with Lincoln, Garfield and the rest,
     His name will live for aye.