E 711 .6 .H82 Copy 1 memorial Hddrm on n « « milliam mcKinley. t'ery truly, n/ij\ //'. HOSIMER. MELMORIAL ADDRE^SS On the Life and ;^Character ot William McKinley DELIVERED AT HOOPLE. N. D. September 19th, 1901 BY BELN. W. HOSME.R. THfc LlbRAtiY OF CONGRESS. Two Copies Received FEB 2 1903 QCopjr.igni tntiy CtASS '^ 1. U- '\. XXc No COPY B.' .4 . Vis-, COPYRIGHT 1902 HY BEN %V. HOSMEK riOOPLE, N. D. To uiv friends a)id daily associafcs at Hoople and vicinity, ivhose appreciation of my efforts to appropri- ately honor the memory of our late lamented Presi- dent is sincerely acknowledged, this little volume is gratefully inscribed. By the Author, BEN It: HOSMd:R. PUBLISHER'S NOTICE: When the news was flashed over the countr\- that President McKinley was dead, probably none of our western coninninities responded to the nniversal sor- row with more promptness and sincere devotion than did the people of the little village of Hoople, sitnated amid beautiful surroundings of timber and prairie in the heart of the Red River Valley. Their public hall was artistically decorated with flowers and drap- ery and the various insignia of mourning. On the day appointed for the funeral appropriate and touch- ing exercises were held, and the whole population turned out to give expression to their grief. The author of the following pages is one of the younger members of the bar in his judicial district, and was called upon to deliver an address suitable to the sad and memorable occasion; and the production of this little book is the result of his efforts to pro- nounce appropriate eulogy upon the life and character of our noble and illustrious president, and in response to the repeated and urgent requests of his friends for its publication. Hoople, N. Dak., Jan. ist, A. D. igo2. ©ur /Ihait^ceb IPresibent. 'Kt is (Bo^'s wap. Ibis Mill be ^onc, not ours.' TJNOTHER illustrious ruler has fallen. For the Jt third time in a generation we bewail the untime- ly death of a president. He who seemed to be with us but \ esterday, in the fulness of life's joys, in the plenti- ^ude of his power, now lies cold in the stillness of death. Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley — the noble triumvirate of historic martyrdom — Lincoln, the victim of the last struggling agonies of expiring rebellion; Gar- field, sacrificed on the altar of political vengeance; McKinley, smitten by the poisonous serpent of anarchy. To-day we witness a most awful spectacle; a trag- edy more startling, more terrible in its import, has 8 never yet overwlK-lined the heart of humanity. Political revolution moving in its resistless course over the land could not have stirred the souls of men more profonndK-. The very thought of it is more horrifying than the images of the most hideous night- mare. A fiendish and diabolical act — at the seat of a great exposition, designed to bring into more har- monious relations all the peoples of this hemisphere, to illustrate the marvelous advances of modern indus- try and invention, to promote the peace, prosperity and happiness of the civilized world, our eyes behold the tragic scene. Words of wi.sdoni and a grand message of lo\e and universal peace had but a brief time before been de- livered from the taintless lips of our president; and as we see him bending his dignified form to clasp in fraternal greeting the outstretched hands of his coun- trvmen, and a little child has just departed from his benign presence, he is suddenh' smitten lo earth bv the red hand of murder. H\- a most remarkable coincidence, and as if de- sig-iied to impress upon ns more deeply the solemn lessons and snggestions of this hour, we are now as- sembled, fellow citizens, on the anniversaiy of another sad and mournful day, when on the distant shores of the Atlantic seas the spirit of the noble-hearted Gar- field took its flight from earth. Before the hour of midnight on the nineteenth day of September, eigh- teen hundred and eighty-one, after weeks and months of agony and heroic struggle, and within sight of the ocean's ''heaving billows," he breathed his last. But, is McKinley dead? IsGaifield dead? Is Lincoln dead? From all things earthly they have seemingly passed awav. But to us, their adoring and lamenting countrymen, they still live in the bright example of their grand and consecrated lives. They live in the influence which their careers, their principles, their opinions, now exercise, and will continue to exercise in the affairs of men. "A superior and commanding human intellect, a truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is not a temporary flame burn- ing bright for a while and then expiriug,giving place lO to retiirnino^ darkness. It is rather a spark of fervent heat, as well as a radiant H.^ht, with power to en- kindle the common mass of liuman mind; so that, when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes ont in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire, from the potent contact of its own spirit." Time does not permit, nor indeed does the occasion specially require, that we dwell long upon the striking events of our late president's illustrious career. They are known to us all. His public life, his heroic devotion to duty, had their inception before he had fairly reached the threshold of manhood. In the dark days of '6i, in response to the appeals of our first great martyr, we behold him with shoul- dered musket marching manfully down to the .scenes of war; and on the battle-fields of his countr\' he consecrated his ardent and patriotic heart in a bap- tism of fire. In the councils of state, in the halls of national legislation, in the executive chair of his home state, and in the ](^fticst position in the gift of II his countrymen he has reached his proud eminence-. To-day the remembrance of him commands universal respect, inspires the admiration and appeals to the sympathy, of the whole world. His prophetic wis- dom, his patriotic spirit, his sincere and steadfast devotion to every duty of life, his kind and fatherly disposition, his unselfish regard for his aged parents, to the last moment of their lives, his sweet fellowship with his kindred everywhere, his bosom companion- ship, his manly affection, his tender, oh, so sweet and enrapturing love — unpolluted by the slightest taint of bestiality — his constant tenderness and solici- tude for the delicate angel companion of all his man- hood years, whom he cherished and adored above all earthly treasures, and for whose sake, if need be, he would gladly have abandoned all the allurements of earthly ambition, and in ministering, to whose comfort, joy and happiness he experienced his keen- est felicity; his incorruptible honor, his devout christian manhood, his calm dignity, his noble forti- tude, his disregard of self, his anxious thoughtfulness 12 of otliers, liis soldierij' and heroic conduct in the last hours of conscious existence, his steadfast trust in Alniiy^htv God — these are the qualities which inspire within us unspeakable love for him. By his admira- ble characteristics exhibited in the varied relations of strong and active manhood, his heroism when suddenly prostrated, wounded and bleeding, amid the scenes of that awful tragedy, in which he was the Hamlet — the central, the commanding figure — he reveals in striking relief qualities which had hitherto remained hidden from the sight of man, not paraded to the public gaze, but cherished within his heart. In the sudden and astounding revelation of such lofty motives we are seized with emotions which leap the very bounds of our admiration, and w^e stand ap- palled, as if transfixed by the magic wand of Divinity. Think of it, my friends, has such another marvel- ous scene been presented to the eyes of mortal man since the Saviour of the world thrilled hunuinily with his matchless words and deeds of miraculous wonder? In imagination we picture the scenes sur- 13 rounding the last days of William IMcKinley's career, with his beautiful and cherished wife restored to him after the painful tour to the Pacific coast. She seemed to him, and to all who had anxiously watched with him at her bedside, as if snatched from the very clutches of death. Again in sweet companionship with her, doubly dear to him for the crisis through which she has safely passed, we behold him, this venerable ruler, stepping down from the stately man- sion of power, to greet once more the hosts of his devoted countrymen. At the great exposition the enthusiastic throngs are thrilled by his venerable presence, charmed by his courtly manners, inspired with confidence and exultation by his good will for all, for his wise and statesmanlike declarations, his expressions of sincere gratitude at his warm welcome by the citizens, giving renewed and added proof of his great goodness of heart, his lively sympathy for all. And when the awful assault was made, that robbed us of our inestimable treasure, behold how heroically he meets his untimely doom. He still stands like a 14 soldier at his post, tlionoh pierced by mortal wounds, and suffering the most excruciating agony. Supported by his attendants, he walks upright to a seat near at hand, and to his private secretary, who bends in ministering devotion over the now prostrate form of his beloved chief, the president gasps in piteous tones, "My wife; be careful about her; don't let her know." And as he yields momentarily to his ex- treme agony and again rises above his distressing pain, and his eyes open, and he sees the infuriated and horror-stricken mob pouncing with mingled grief, indignation, and horror, upon the assassin, almost beside themselves with rage at the unprovoked attack, he calmly yet earnestly and with unexampled charity, and in words of benevolence, implores tho.se about him, "Let no one hurt the man;" and as the multitude, crazed by their heart-rending emotions, look upon his quivering form, as he bears up so nobly in the trying ordeal, upon the pale countenance with features .still kindling with benignity, even in his extreme agony, no wonder they involuntarily ex- 15 claim — "He is a soldier." Yes, he was a soldier in the broadest and highest meaning in which the term can be interpreted. And in his stricken condition he yet commanded, and the storm of angry and con- tending passions which raged abont him became subdned. When he was carried to the hospital no complaint escaped him, but he thoughtfully ob- served, "I am sorry to have been a cause of trouble to the exposition." And when his delicate wife was brought to his bedside, recalling uppermost in his mind the fearful crisis through which she had rec- ently passed, and in a boundless sympathy for her he said, "This is not our first battle." We need not dwell upon the political principles which our late president was accustomed to advocate in his public career. Some of them are still of a mooted character, and far be it from the sacred ob- jects of this occasioa and its heartrending associations to suggest by the slightest word or comment the lan- guage of controversy. He was the president of no creed, faction or party, and his sympathies and con- i6 stant solicitude reached to the farthest limits of the republic over which he ruled. Gladly would he, even in his candidacy for his exalted office, have a^'oided any bitter antagonism of partisanship. He represented the whole country. He aimed to rule with impartiality, avoiding as far as possible any occasion for serious differences. Conciliatory in his communications, he was yet firm and resolute in carrying out the mandates of his convictions. His administration by common assent has been marvel- ously successful. The solemn pledges under which he was elected to the chief magistracy haV^een faith- fully kept. Within the brief time that has elapsed since his second inauguration the country has been becoming rapidly settled into a state of universal liarmony and good feeling unprecedented by any era since tlie historic times of James Monroe. When the president delivered his last address not a cloud darkened the political horizon; never was he more able, more statesmanlike, in his delivery. His last words have the ringing note of a splendid valcdictor}-; 17 one that could scarcely, have been more appropriate ill its sentinieiit had he known it would be his last formal declaration on earth. "Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our neighbors and life blessings to all the peoples and powers of earth." In no other public utterance did he manifest more profoundness of wisdom, more true nobility of character. But great as he was in life, surpassingly great was he in death. And as he takes his departure from the scenes of time and enters the dark valley of the shadow of death, he discloses most signally qualities of his character not hitherto prominently exhibited. He was a christian soldier of the loftiest type. When the anaesthetic was administered, not knowing but that consciousness might never return, he murmured inaudibly to all but the physician who bent over his prostrate form, "Thy Kingdon come, Thv will be done." In all the days of anxious solictude, when a nation watched prayerfully at the pale sufferer's bed- side, and we trembled as we awaited the latest tid- i8 ings, with an anxiety that could scarcely ha\-e been surpassed if our own fates had hung in the uncertain balance, he alone was unshaken. He quailed not at the shadow of his impending fate. Where does his- tory record the incidents of a death scene more grand and sublime? The Father of his Country did not surpass, by his heroic conduct in the hour of death, the marvelous sublimity of William McKinley. "Nearer My God to Thee, Nearer to Thee. Good by all. Good bye. It is God's way. His will be done, not ours." And as his consecrated soul was wafted into the realms of eternity, and winged its upward flight to the throne of its God, methinks there was a scene of triumph, beyond the darkness of the Vale, grander than any ecstasy of success that had attended the manifold achievements of his brilliant career upon earth; indefinitely surpassing any spectacle of grandeur that has ever followed the homeward march of the mightiest earthly conqueror. My friends, we feel ''that on this occasion, although the saddest in which man\- of us have ever been called 19 upon to participate, that it is after all excee(lin' 21 hushed in the dark solitude of the tomb — who can console them, or stop the pangs of their quaking- hearts? The angelic wife, bereft of the noblest, the truest, the knightliest, the tenderest of companions — let a nation feel it a precious privilege to weep with her. Today industry is at a stand. The multitudinous sons of toil, whose welfare he ever labored to piomote, will shed copious tears of manly grief as they gather about and look for the last time on his face. Little children who have so often felt the warm pressure of that fatherly hand will mingle their tears with the tides of grief that cover the land. Beautiful flowers that are everywhere deposited as the sweet, modest emblems of love are bedewed with the moisture of heartrending bereavement; but from the altar of our united devotion there will arise sweet odors more fragrant than "incense kindled at the muses' flame." Monuments will rise to commemorate our noble dead; and the sculptor's hand will preserve his form in faultless symmetry. But the grandest monument 22 that can be erected to the name of William McKinley will not be one of stone. It will be infinitely more enduring. Broader than the ever widening limits of this republic, more lasting than the rock beneath its soil, loftier than the dome of the vaulting skies. Monuments of stone may indeed endure; they may stand throughout countless ages, undisturbed in the solidity of their massive structure, fit emblems of glorious events, or the illustrious lives which they commemorate. But none of these are proof against the destroying hand of Time. The lightning's bolt mav cleave their chiseled and polished surfaces. The undulations of the earthquake may heave their found- ations and cause their stately columns to totter and fall to the earth; the cyclone's resistless fury may rend their massive blocks asunder; and through the revolutions of countless ages the fragments of granite may be crumbled to dust, and in Time's crucible be reduced to the molecular forms of their original ele- ments. And how shall wc build a more lasting and endur- L.cFC. 23 ing moniiinent to the name of William McKinley? We can do it b}' cultiv^ating within us all the admir- able qualities that entered into his character; by practicing- every good habit and every good principle that animated his life. Public officials may not rise to his heights of states- manship and genius of leadership, but they must not fall below his standard of duty and obligation. The ambitious young man, vaulting into the arena of act- ive life, and emulous of William IMcKinley, and the high and responsible offices which he so acceptably filled, must be fired with an ardent and steadfast zeal to rise to the serene level of his exalted manhood; to feel in every waking moment within his innermost heart of hearts that it is better by far to possess a character like that of William McKinley than to be president of the United States. We must all labor in the construction of this monument as though its suc- cess depended primarily upon our supreme individual efforts. The adage is a wise one which says, "Heaven helps those who helps themselves." But 24 we must build our uieuiorial sliaft by sireuuous daily toil and, 'Count that day lost \^ hose low desceiuliiig sun Views from thy hand no worthy action done." Every child that performs his or her daily tasks with cheerful obedience, and shuns the ways of sin, and goes about performing little deeds of kindness, speak- ing little words of love, will surely aid in the build- ing of this monument. Every father who, with dili- gent solicitude watches over and guides the little footsteps of those dependent upon his constant care, will assist most powerfully in its construction. Sweet motherhood needs not to be reminded that her part will be the holiest mission among all the builders. And if thou art a husband forget not the sacred vows that bind thee to the clinging partner of life's toil's, its joys and its griefs, and study to compre- hend the domestic life of William McKinley. Imi- tate his love, sweeter to the last moment of his con- .scious existence than all other earthly joys. If thou art a young nuin, and hast not > et taken a cherished 25 partner unto thy bosom, banish every youthful folly, make every manly virtue a habit before entering upon the sacred obligations of husband and father. The little word, "cherish," let gently fall from the lips of a dear and mutual friend of William IMcKinley and Ida Saxton on the eve of their marriage sank deep into his manly heart and has borne the fruits of true domestic felicity. And the lesson it teaches is a simple one: "Go and do thou likewise." And if thou art one of the hoary patriarchs of the land, with the flakes of advancing years falling gently about thee, withhold not thy wise counsels from us, but dispense them freely and graciously that we may all profit abundantly thereby. And let us all remember to practice more fully, as did our immortal president, all the principles of true Christianity, and become more ardent followers of Our Father in Heaven. By so doing we shall be able to realize the spotless char- acter of William McKinley. Then when our sum- mons comes to enter the dark valley, and be joined to the innumerable host, it will be without fear or trem- 26 blinj:^, for we shall be "sustained and soothed by an unfaltering trust." And as the glorious monument progresses we shall move upward with it into sublimer heights of glory; and we shall behold far below us in the darkening distance, consumed in the lurid flames of their own horrid lusts, the tottering strongholds of satanic power, crumbling into the dust of annihilation. The hours of this sad and memorable day are rap- idly flying. We need never hope to behold Itlieir return. Like the earthly career of him we so bitterly lament, they cannot be recalled; but let the lessons of the hour sink deep into our hearts; let their solemn import be deeply and powerfully felt; and we shall not retire from this occasion without a profound and .steadfast conviction of the duties which have de- volved upon us. And when the memorial which we have so de- voutly pledged ourselves to rear in commemoration of the great departed has risen far above the azure (IdHic— an obelisk of perfect symmetry, of fadeless 27 beauty — until its summit is illuminated by the light which surrounds the gateway of the Celestial City, we shall reap our reward. As its devoted builders lift the capstone to its place and raise their eyes in rapturous triumph upon the scene, they will behold near at hand, with no intervening gulf, the goal of their pilgrimage. And as the column of patient toilers moves forward in soldierly order, to receive their reward, each and all will be welcomed into the matchless presence of their Lord. One by one shall ja^ we be finally greeted by the joyous admonition, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." And as we pass on to the scene of our final triumph, we shall at last behold the forms of our noble martyrs, clothed in the white robes of immortality, standing there, their faces radiant with the light of divinity, to orreet us and welcome us all into the Heavenlv Republic. EB 2 1903