The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1901-09-20
A VAST AUDIENCE
HUSHED IN GRIEF
CONTINUED from page II


who that has seen his stately bearing,
his grace and manliness of demeanor,
his kindness of aspect, but gives assent
to this description of him? It was
characteristic Of our beloved president
that men met him
ONLY TO LOVE HIM.
They might indeed differ with him,
but in the presence of such dignity
of character and grace Of manner, none
could fail to love the man. The peo-
pie confided in him, believed in him,
II was said of Lincoln that probably
no man since the days OF Washington
was ever so deeply imbedded and en-
shrined In the hearts of the people, but
IT. is true Of Mckinley in a larger sense.
Industrial and social conditions are
such that he was, even more than his
predecessors, the friend of the whole
people.
A touching scene was enacted in this
church last Sunday night The SER
vices had closed. The worshipers
were gone to their homes. Only few
fingered to discuss the sad event that
brings us together today. Three
MEN IN WORKING GARB,
Of a foreign race and unfamiliar tongue
entered the room. They approach
ed the altar, kneeling before it and be-
fore his picture. Their lips moved as II
in prayer, while tears furrowed their
cheeks. They may have been think
ing of their own King Humbert, and
Of his untimely death. Their emotion
was eloquent, eloquent beyond speech;
and 1t bore testimony to their appre-
citation Of manly friendship and Of
honest worth.
It Is a glorious thing to be able to
say in this presence, with our illustri-
GUS dead before us, that he never be-
trayed the confidence of his country
men. Not for personal gain or pre-
eminence would he mar the beauty of
his soul. He kept it clean and white
before God and man, and his hands
were unsullied by bribes.
His eyes looked right on, and his
eyelids looked straight before him.
He was sincere,
PLAIN AND HONEST,
Just, benevolent and kind. He never
disappointed those who believed in him,
but measured up to every duty, and
met every responsibility in life grand
ly and unfiinchingly.
Not only was our president brave,
heroic and honest; he was as gallant
knight as ever rode the lists for his
lady love in the days when knight
hood was in flower. 1t is but few
weeks since the nation looked on with
tear-dimmed eyes, as it saw with what
tender conjugal devotion he sat at the
bedside of his beloved wife, when all
feared that fatal illness was upon her.
No public clamor that he might show
himself to the populace, no demand of
social function, was sufficient to draw
the lover from the bedside of his wife.
He watched and waited, while we all
prayed-and she lived. This
SWEET AND TENDER STORY
all the world knows, and the world
knows that his whole life had run in
this one groove of love. 1t was a
strong arm that she leaned upon, and
1t never failed her. Her smile was
more to him than the plaudits of the
multitude, and for her greeting his
Acknowledgements of them must wait.
After receiving the fatal wound, his
first thought was that the terrible
news might be broken gently to her.
May God in this deep hour Of sorrow
comfort her. May His grace be greater
than her anguish. May the widows
God be her God.
Another beauty in the character of
our president, that was chaplet of
grace about his neck, was, that he was
a christian. In the broadest, noblest
sense of the word. that was true. His
confidence in God was strong and un-
wavering It held him steady in many
storm where others were driven be-
fore the wind and tossed. He believed
In the FatherhOod Of God, and in His
sovereignty. His faith in the Gosgel OF
Christ was deep and abiding. He had
no patience with any other theme OF
pulpit discourse. Christ and HE,
Crucified," was. to his mind,
THE ONLY PANACEA
for the worlds disorders He believ-
ed 1t to be the supreme duty of the
christian minister to preach the word
He said, 1--WE do not look for great
business men in the pulpit, but for grea,
preachers"
II is we'll known that his godly
mother had hoped for him that ht
would become minister of the gospel
and that she believed 1t to be the high.
eat vocation in life. 1t was not, how.
ever, his mothers faith that made him
christian. He had gained in early
life personal knowledge of Jesus
which guided him in the performance
Of greater duties and vaster responsi.
bilities than have been the lot Of any
other American president. He said al
one time, while bearing heavy burdens
that he could not discharge the daily
duties Of his life, but for the fact that
he
HAD FAITH IN GOD.
William Mckinley believed in pray,
er, in the beauty of 1t, in the potency
of 1t. It's language was not unfamiliar
to him, and his public addresses moi
infrequently evince the fact. 1t wa:
perfectly consistent with his lifelong
victiOua and hio naroopaI avpari