The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-03-04
SECRETARY HAY 3 EULOGY
Pays Eloquent Tribute to Memory
of the Late William
Mckinley.
SAYS he WAS A TYPICAL AMERICAN.


Summary of Memo
rial Address Delivered by Invita-
tion of Congress-Martyred Presi-
dent Will Rank with the Greatest
of American Statesmen.
For the third time the congress of the
.orate the life and the death OF president
slain by the hand OF an assassin. Inc at
tention of the future historian VIII be at
tracted to the features which reappear with
startling SamenesS in all three OF these
awful crimes: the uselessness. the utter
lack OF H OF me ne ae. cr ine
che blamelessness-so far as in our sphere
OF existence the best of men may be hello
murdered presidents had an enemy in the
world; they were all of such preemlnent
purity of life that no pretext could be given
Tor the attack of passional crime; they
were all men of democratic instincts who
could never have offended the most jeal.
GUS advocates of equality; they were OF
wrong or Injustice was Impossible; of mod
crate fortune, whose slender means no
body could envy. They. were men of aus.
abilities, which they had devoted with
single minds to the good of the republic. II
ever men walked before God and man
without blame, it was these three rulers of
our people. The only temptation to attack
their lives offered was their gentle radi-
.ance-to eyes hating the light that was Of
Tense enough.
Going on to speak of the uselessness and
absolute folly OF the crime even from nan an
a tn;d Of ,c ne sa nfa i af
fronts the common sense of the world. One
can conceive how the death Of dictator
empire; how the extinction of a narrowing
line of kings may bring i'll an alien dynas-
ty. But in well ordered republic like
no tremor. Our beloved and revered leader
is gone-but the natural process of our laws
provides US a successor, Identical in pur-
pose and ideals, nourished by the same
teachings. inspired by the same principles,
pledged by tender affection as well as by
snse TASK Or i to m an and to
snite with iron severity every manifesto
ton of that hideous crime which his mild
predecessor, with his dying. breath, for
gave. The sayings of celestial wisdom have
no date; the words that reach US, over 2, 600
years, out of the darkest hour Of gloom the
to-day: They know not what they. do
The blow struck at our dear friend and
ruler was. as deadly as blind hate could
make, it; but the blow struck at anarchy
was deadlier still. How many coun-
tries can join with us In the community of
kindred sorrow! I will not speak of those
distant regions where assassination enters
into the. daily life of government. But
among the nations bound to US by the ties
that wise and mild autocrat who had
earned the proud title of the Liberator?
that enlishtened and magnanimous cti-
zen whon,. France still mourns.? that brave
and chivs lrous king of Italy who only lived
for his people? and, saddest of all, that
Lovely eng ,if sorrowing empress whose
the animosity of a demon. Against that
develish spirit nothing avals-neither vir
tue, nor patriotism, nor age nor youth, nor
conscience nor pity.
A 1,ypfcnJ American
The life of William Mckinley was, from
his birth to his death, typically American.
There is no environment, should say, any
.dpce such a eharaeter. 1ie was born INTO
that way Of life t which eSewhere is called
is SO nearly Universal as to make of other
classes an almost negligible quantity. He
was neither sich nor poor, neither proud
sure of satisfying, no luxury which could
-enervate MIND or body. His parents, were
sober; God fearing people; Intelligent and
humility. He grew up in the company of
boys like himself Wholesome, honest, self
rsss esp f Trey looked down on nobody;
looked down upon. Their houses were the
homes Of probity, plety, patriotism. They
SD years ago the lessons of heroic and SPLEEN
did life which have come down from the
past. They read in their weekly newspa-
pers the story Df the world s progress, in
which they We're eager to take part, and of
the sins and wrongs of civilization with
which they. burned to do battle. 1t was
serious and thoughtful time.
Early Influences.
1t is not easy to give to those of later
generation any clear idea of that extraor-
binary spiritual awakening which passed
of the war betw cen the states. In 1860 the
Decision. The Question which had d Been en-
debated on thousands of platforms, which
had been discussed in countless publica-
tons, which, Numbered from innumerable
pulpits, had caused in their congregations
only cases of conscience can give rise, was
everywhere pressing for solution.
In the south as Well, below all the eff
feryescence and excitement of a people
perhaps more given to eloquent speech
than we We're. there was the profound
agony OF question and answer, the sum
dom did not call them to revolution and
war. II is easy for partisanship to say that
the one side vas right ! and that the other
magnanimity to say that both were right.
Perhaps in the wide view of ethics one is al
Ways right I; to follow 3a his conscience though
tory is memorable. She takes no account
of sentiment and intention; and in her cold
fights in harmony with the stars in their
courses. The men are right through whose
efforts forts and nd, struggles the world Is helped
level and brighter day.
The men who are living to-day and who
were young in 1860 will never forget the
glory, and glamour that filled the earth
and the sky when the long twilight of doubt
and uncertainty was ending and the time
of action had come. Patriotism, which had
been rhetorical expression, became pas
.sionat ta,, emotion, in which instinct logic
worth saving; 1t could be saved only by
fire; no sacrifice was too great; the young
men of the country were ready for the
sacrifice; come veal, come woe, they were
ready.
Mckinley as a Soldier.
At II years of age William Mckinley
: heard this summons of his country. He
was the sort of youth to whom military
life in ordinary times would possess no at
fractions. His nature was far different
from that of the ordinary soldier. He had
other dreams of life, its prizes and pleas
ures, than that of marches and battles
But to his mind there was no choice or
question.
He enlisted as private; he learned to
obey. His serious, sensible ways his
prompt, alert efficiency soon attracted the
attention Of his supcriors. He was SO
faithful in little things they gave him more
and on the march; swift, cool and fearless
in fight. He left the army with field rank