The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1901-09-26


wonted stiffness has crept upon our streets
Bells are tolllng and the flags 1y half-mast
from the high places Peace reigns, but It
is the peace Of determined Wills. Even
the heavens weep with us. He whose
death has caused all this, and whom we de
piore, has touched our hearts with all
gentleness, and the nation mourns. And !
say nation adyisedly. When Lincoln fell
he passions Of a long and bloddy war had
scarcely begun to subside when Garfield
| died. the wounds had not yet healed but
/ when the latest martyr to his country's
cause gave forth his gentle spirit, an undi-
vided country weeps. He had been through
| that terrible conflict, and had learned the
horrors Of war He had seen the bravery
| of Southern men and the devotion Of its
| women, and realized the tremendous power
| would WELD for a common country. So
it is today that the man who passed through
their streets as a foe, almost forty years
| ago, is honored as a martyr, and the
mourners 20 about the streets. And even
| In the Islands of a far-of sea this hour
| will find heads bowed In grief and resig-
iation to the God in whom the trust Of our
| beloved countryman, William Mckinley
| rested. Summoned when the full strength
Of a consecrated manhood coursed within
him, he died as it is given only the great
to die
Our beloved President is dead. have
| stood in the mountain valley, flooded with
| the light of the afternoon sun, as 1t hover
ed on the peak, and when that orb OF
light had vanished behind the dim buttress
and the sudden gloom settled down, all life
| Oh ND sfflI
| the stream, as 1t leaped from rock to rock,
was lulled. All nature seemed to realize
that its friend had gone.
| So it was when the news Of the attempt
ed assassination crushed into the hearts of
our citizens, solemn hush fell upon the
hosts-a hush born Of love and hate-loye
| for our good President, and hate, awful
hate, for the foul assassin.
| And with it all it seems to me that a
| fearful sense of utter humiliation has crept
into the hearts of every loyal American
| citizen since the awful deed was done.
| Nature cries out for an apology from man.
| that one of his kind could be so low as to
strike the dastardIy blow. We have warmed
with pride at the conduct Of our country
men in every field of endeavor, and than
| that this foul blight should fall upon US,
and turn our JOY to bitterness, it Is too
much, and we bow our heads in silent
prayer to Almighty God TO save us from
ourselves 1t is not of the fleets and arm
| les of other nations that we must stand In
| fear, but of those who masquerade under
| our own citizenship and strike from within.
| Leaving aside for the moment the bray
cry of this man on the field Of battle, his
marvellous knowledge of men, and his high
executive ability. the characteristics which
impress me most as I look upon his like
ness yonder, draped in black, are those he
| displayed as a man. No single act Of his
was greater than himself, and the history
| that he made was but the extension Of his
inner self Our government will ever be
safe in the hands of those who know them
selves. We can never fail when the men
| who watch our destinies are absolutely
above reproach in their personal characters.
The environments of the young man
| Mckinley were not those Of q prince, but
| his blood was royal. He had a mother, a
real mother, and in all the relations of life
afterwards assumed by him, until she died
when he was in the height Of his great
ness, he never for a moment forgot that
mother, and he has left us a record for
exalted veneration of noble womanhood
which will endure as long as moral worth
is appreciated His America was a land
of homes, and his was high among them.
country will never be higher than its
homes; public virtue and private morality
walk hand in hand.
As a boy, all accounts agree that he was
not inclined to be frlvilous, but held up be-
fore himself ever a lofty ideal. Not that
he was early imbued with the idea that he
would some time be great, but with that
fixity Of purpose and firm will which re-
maIned with him to the last, he worked up
always up. Even in his young manhood
his reserve Of manner gave him a dignity
much remarked among his fellows. He
easily won the respect Of all men with
whom he came in direct contact, and seem
ed to Instinctlvely appeal to the best there
was in those whom he led.
He was in sympathy with his people
The criticism has often been made of him
that he was not a leader Of his people, but
a very careful follower. The same was
said of Lincoln. Both men had faith in
the judgment of the comon people. Both
had grown up in that wholesome atmos
phere Of American simplicity, and had
had imblbed a strong faith in the ultimate
correctness of the peoples course, no mat
ter how erratic. This made them the men
Of the hour. Our Presidents are servants,
not leaders, and it seems to me that when
in future years men write cold history,
William Mckinley will be given a place as
a man Of the people, fully as high as any
of our Presidents
And how hard, how utterly useless, does
his death seem, stricken down, as he was,
when the glow Of pleasure was In his eyes,
and he smile upon his lips, because he
could again mingIe with the common peo-
pie whom he loved so well and who loved
him. Again there is brought home
to US a vivid realization Of the frallty Of
life. 1t seems strange that in the econ
omy of nature 1t is possible for piece of
dull lead TO end Z lie and change the MIS-
tory of the world. All the experience that
he had gained by almost a half century of
public service, all the plans that had occu-
pied his active mind, all gone without
transmisslon-an ounce of lead and the
crook Of a traitors finger had ended 1t all.
No wonder there are hoarse mutterlngs
heard in this land of the free. Things are
being enacted that would cause the stony
Memnon to break forth into his rude song
Of the dawn, and the singing sands of
Hawaii awaken their doleful whisperings.
For the shot was aimed at the people, and
their standard-bearer received 1t. The sub
dued wrath Of a whole people is a terrible
thing, and woe to the object Of Its ven
geance.
The life Of our late President might be
styled an epltome OF the life of the nation
which he served. He had the qualities
which We ascrlba TO omr neonla as a whole