The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1902-03-14

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sassinated chief, William Mckinley
in the same Hall. Here are a few
striking sentences from this eulogy
a. cit is impossible to speak of Will
that no truer, tenderer knight to his
chosen lady ever lived among morta
men. If to the spirits of the JUS
made perfect is permitted the con
seriousness of earthly things, we may
be sure that his faithful soul is now
watching over that gentle sufferer
who counts the long hours in their
shattered home in the desolate sp1en.
dor of his fame.
ga wholesome ambition; a rare
power of making friends and keep
ing them; faith, which may be
called religious in his country and
its institutions; and, flowing from
this, a belief that a man could do no
nobler work than to serve such a
country-these were the elements in
his character that drew him irresist-
IDLY into public life.
''He was not often impassioned ;
he rarely resorted to the aid of wit
or humor; yet never saw his equal in
controlling and convincing a popular
audience by sheer appeal to their rea-
son and intelligence. He did not
flatter or ca ole them, but there was
an implied compliment in the seri-
Gus and sober tone in which he ad-
dressed them. He seemed one of
them; in heart and feeling he was
one of them. Each artisan in
great crowd might say: That is the
sort of man 1 would like to be, and
under more favoring circumstances
might have been. He had the divine
gift of sympathy, which, though
given only to the elect, makes all
men their friends.
'His face and his voice became
familiar to millions of our people
and wherever they were seen and
heard, men became his partisans.
you see faces like it in antique mar
BILE in the galleries of the Vatican
and in the portraits of the great car
dinal-statesmen of Italy; his voice
was the voice of the perfect orator
ringing, vibrating, tireless, per-
suading by its very sound, by its
accent of sincere conviction. So
prudent and so guarded were all his
utterances, so lofty his courtesy, |
that he never embarrassed his |
friends, and never offended his op-
ponents.
"When he came to the Presidency |
he confronted a situation of the ut
most difficulty, which might well
have appalled, a man of less serene
and tranquil self-confidence l be- .
lieve that the verdict of history will |
be that he met all these grave ques-
tions with perfect valor and incom-
parable ability; that in graphing
with them he rose to the full height .
of a great occasion, in a manner
which redounded to the lasting bene-
fit of the country and to his own i'm
mortal honor.
"Proba1by no other President has
been in such full and cordial COM
munion with Congress, if we may
except Lincoln alone. Mckinley
knew the Legislative body thorough
1y, its composition, its methods, its
habits of thought. He had the pro-
foundest respect for its authority
and an infexib1e belief in the ulti
mate rectitude of its purposes. Our
history shows how surely an Execu
tive courts disaster and ruin by as
suming an attitude of hostility or
distrust to the Legislature; and, on
the other hand, McKin1ey's frank
and sincere trust and confidence in
Congress were repaid by prompt and
loyal support and cooperation.
During his entire term of office this
mutual trust and regard-so essen
tial to the public we1fare-was new
er Swallowed by a single cloud.
'In dealing with foreign Powers,
he will take rank with the greatest
of our diplomatists. 1t was world
of which he had little special knowl-
edge before coming to the Presiden-
cy. But his marvellous adaptability
was in nothing more remarkable
than in the firm grasp he immedi-
ate1y displayed in international re-
1ations. In preparing for war and
in the restoration of peace he was
alike adroit, courteous and far-sight-
ed.
"By patience, by firmness, by
sheer reasonableness, he improved
our understanding with all the
great Powers of the world, and
rightly gained the blessing which
belongs to the peacemakers.
"There is not one of us but feels
nrouder of his native land because
the august figure of Washington
over its beginnings; no
one but vows it a tenderer love be-
cause Lincoln poured out his blood
for il: no one but must feel his de-
votion for his country renewed and
,;ud1ed when he remembers how 5
loved, revered, and served s
IL showed in his life how a citizen S
should live, and in his last hour
taught us how a gentleman could