The age-herald., 1901-09-27
ImpIous Use of Martyr"


 "Pious persons and persons of schol- arly attainments. jealous of the purity of our good English tongue, have con- stantly resented the indiscriminate lat ter-day use of the word martyr, said man who abhors vulgarity in speech.
 We have martyrs of every sort and condition nowadays. from martyrs to corns on little toes to martyrs on im- perial thrones; martyrs to duty in ch-dlgging to martyrs to duty on the firing-line of grim battle, until the noble dignity and significance of saintly title is submerged in the rabble's flood of gabble
 "In a profounu spiritual sense, the world kneels in grief and reverence be- side the grave of President Mckinley. History does not record that the death of any other mortal ever produced such worldwide grief or called forth such bit ter and universal condemnation of crime. Literally the whole world mourns the dead President, and in every honest American heart there Is real and earnest grief.
 "The stupid falsehood of the Chris tian' preacher Cline of Nashville, that the President was dominated by one particular church, and his unmannerly and unmanly fling at the great dead as a commercial Presdent-the wild out pouring of a fool in the pulpit-serve the purpose of emphasizing the reverential grief that fills the hearts of all honest people.
 But to refer to MT. Mckinley as a martyr is not only inaccurate and In wretchedy bad taste, but 1t would seem to be actually impious. And 1t is more especially objectionable in view of the fact, held dear by all religious people, that MT. Mckinley was a man of prayer and piety, God-fearing. God-loving, strong, brave man; and if the spirit of the dead knows what the living are say ing and could feel pain, his spirit would resent the senseless application to him of the title martyr,
 ''The President was no more a martyr than the humblest soldier killed in the Philippines, and the soldier no more a martyr than a man run over and killed in the street!
 
 "'One who by his death bears witness to the truth of the Gospel; one who is put to death for his religion as, Stephen was the first Christian martyr
 And this, secondly:
 ' ITO be a martyr, signifies to witness the truth of Christ; but the witnessing was then Qn the early days of Christian ity) so generally attended with persecu- ton, that martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness by death.
 And fin this third and broadest possi- ble latter-day sense:
 "'One who sacrifices his life his sta ton, or what Is of great value to him, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause
 This last definition is a kind of news paper meaning that is rejected entirely by scholars; but according to even so liberal an interpretation 1t will be readily perceived that it is wrong, improper, in- excusable, to refer to the beloved Mo- Kinley as a martyr. Nor was Lincoln or than Mckinley. The three murdered Presidents were slain while in the service of the country not for the country; but even if they had died for their country 1t would not be truthful to designate them as martyrs.
 MT Mckinley apart this reckless mis- use of saintly title is not only highly objectionable in morals and English, but it offends one's better sensibilities."