Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1907-10-04
To an HOnOred Statesman, Wise Executive, Brave
Soldier and Good Citizen.
KNNLEY MONUMENT At CANTON DEDICATED
President Roosevelt Delivers an Address EuOgSiiC Of the
Man Who Preceded Him in Office.

tion to the memory Of William McKin-
ley, who as president won a place in
the hearts of the American Deople
such as but three or four of all the
presidents of this country have ever
won. He was of singular uprightness
and purity of character, alike in pub
lie and in private life; citizen who
loved peace, he did his duty faithfully
and well for four years of war when
the honor of the nation called him to
arms. AS congressman, as governor
of his state, and finally as president.
he rose to the foremost place among
our statesmen, reaching a position
which would satisfy the keenest ambi-
ton; but he never lost that simple
and thoughtful kindness toward every
human being, great or small, lofty or
humble, with whom he was brought in
contact, which so endeared him to our
people He had to grapple with more
serious and complex problems than
any president since Lincoln, and vet.
while meeting every demand of states
rlanship, he continued to live a beau.
tiful and touching family life, a life
very healthy for this nation to see in
its foremost citizen; and now the wo-
man who walked in the shadow ever
after his death, the wife to whom his
loss was calamity more crushing
than it could be to any other human
being, lies beside him here in the
same sepulcher.
There is singular appropriateness
in the inscription on his monument.
Mr.. Cortelyou, whose relations with
him were of such close intimacy. gives
me the following information about it:
On the presidents trip to the Pacific
slope in the spring of 1901 President
Wheeler of the University of Califor-
MIA, conferred the degree of Ii. ID.
upon him in words so we'll chosen that
they struck the fastidious taste of
John Hay, then secretary of state,
who wrote and asked for a CODY of
them from President Wheeler. On
the receipt of this copy he sent the
following letter to President McKin-
ley, letter which now seems filled
with strange and unconscious preset
ence:
Dear Mr. President:
president Wheeler sent me the in
closed at my request. You will have
the words in more permanent shape.
They seem to me remarkably well
chosen, and stately and dignified
enough to serve-long hence, please
God-as your epitaph. Yours faith
fully, JOHN HAY"
University of California,
office of the President.
by authority vested in me by the
regents of the University of Califor-
mia, I confer the degree of Doctor of
Laws upon William Mckinley, presi-
dent of the United States, a states
man singularly gifted to unite the
discordant forces of the government
and mold the diverse purposes of men
toward progressive and salutary ac-
ton, magistrate whose poise of
judgment has been tested and vindi-
Gated in a succession of national emer-
gencies; good citizen, brave soldier,
wise executive, helper and leader of
men, exemplar to his people. of the
virtues that build and conserve the
state, society, and the home.
Berkeley, May 15. 1901"
1t would be hard to imagine an
epitaph which a good citizen would be
more anxious to deserve or one which
would more happily describe the
qualities of that great and good citi-
zen whose life we here commemorate
He possessed to very extraordinary
degree the gift of uniting discordant
forces and securing from them har-
monious action which told for good
government. From purposes not
merely diverse, but bitterly conflict
ing, he was able to secure healthful
action for the good of the state. In
both poise and judgment he rose level
to the several emergencies he had to
meet as leader of the nation, and like
all men with the root of true great
ness in them he grew to steadily
larger stature under the stress of
heavy responsibilities. He was good
citizen and brave soldier, chief
executive whose wisdom entitled him
to the trust which he received
throughout the nation. He was not
only leader of men, but pre-eminent-
ly helper OF men; for one of his
most marked traits was the intensely
human quality of his wide and deep
sympathy. Finally, he not merely
preached, he was, that most valuable
of all citizens in a democracy like
ours, a man who in the highest place
served as an unconscious example to
his people of the virtues that build
and conserve alike our public life, and
the foundation of all public life, the
intimate life of the home.
Many lessons are taught us by his
career, but none more valuable than
the lesson of broad human sympathy
for and among all of our citizens of all
Su.e canafor piaff for n niunrca