PRESIDENT M'KINLEY.

Evening Star, Issue 11655, 16 September 1901, Page 6

PRESIDENT M'KINLEY.

HIS PEACEFUL END. A GREAT AND GOOD MAN. "IT IS GOD'S WAY." "HIS WILL BE DONE." Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. BUFFALO, September 14. President M'Kinley died shortly belore two o'clock this morning. The nurses during the forenoon were adjusting the pillows and arranging for the exclusion of the light at the window when President M'Kinley murmured: "No j I want to see the trees, they are so beautiful." Asaline injection and a very light doso of digitalis was the only treatment. The physicians reserved the use of oxygen, anticipating the chief crisis m evening. The heart began to fail at five o'clock, the patient responding feebly to the effects of oxygen. He became unresponsive at 6.30, and ten minutes later was unconscious. An hour passed, and he then revived under the effect of stimulation, and inquired for his wife. During a short lucid interval he comforted her. There was a renewal of the crisis towards nine o'clock. The President was kept alive by oxygen with the greatest difficulty. At 9.25 he became unconscious and pulseless, and the extremities of the body grew cold. The injection of nourishment had been resorted to because of small ulcers in the stomach, while inflammation of the rectum appeared on Wednesday night, increasing on Thursday to such an extent that nourishment was rejected as fast as it was injected. The only recourse was to give nourishment in the normal way, trusting to the patient's apparently rapid improvement to sustain it. The physicians, seeing the aggravation of the case was due to constipation, and fearing intestinal poisoning unless relief was afforded, administered calomel and oil. Mr M'Kinley at midnight passed undigested matter. The physicians at two o'clock on Friday morning detected a serious weakening' of the heart's action. Restoratives failed to rally. Digitalis and strychnine were administered, and a saline solution was finally injected into the veins. At eleven o'clock on Friday evening the President was nearing his end, scarcely breathing. At 12.30 he was just alive. Then came the last scene of all. Shortly before two o'clock the sufferer passed away. All the family were at the bedside except his wife, who was in an adjoining room. The President was practically unconscious from eight o'clock till death. Prior to lapsing into unconsciousness he begged the doctors to let him die, and .took an affectionate farewell of his wife, his last words to her being: " God's will, not ours, be done." Then he was heard to murmur: "Nearer, my God, to Thee." Mrs M'Kinley displayed superb fortitude. President M'Kinley's last words to those about him were: " Good-bye, all ; good-bye. It is God's way. His will be done." THE NEWS PROCLAIMED. WEEPING AND~LAMENTATION. WASHINGTON, September 14. Dr Rexey at a quarter past two announced that the President was dead. The tidings were immediately sent to the room where the Cabinet and Senators were waiting. All cried like children. Large crowds all night kept vigil outside the newspaper offices in New York, and wept when the death was announced; others cried vengeance on the Anarchists. There were similar scenes at Buffalo, where the crowds waited in a dense fog. Upon a rumor of the President's death at midnight an excited rush was made for Czolgosz's cell, but the police repelled it. The crowds at the various centres who waited for tidings of the sufferer were orderly in behaviour, but labored under subdued excitement. The sudden changes from hope to despair came as an awful shock to the nation. Wall street was demoralised, stocks fluctuating and closing with a considerable fall. THE WIFE AND WIDOW. WASHINGTON, September 14. The President's wife was asleep when nnmistakeable signs of dissolution were apparent. She was not awakened. When informed that her husband had gone she showed the utmost fortitude, quietly saying: "God help me." WASHINGTON, September 15. (Received September 16, at 8.45 a.m.) Mrs M'Kinley is bearing up bravely, saying: "My dear dead husband would wish it BO." THE BODY EMBALMED. WASHINGTON, September 15. An autopsy showed that death was directly due to gangrene from the bullet wound. The bullet was not discovered. The body has been embalmed. The remains will be conveyed to Washington tomorrow, and lie in state until the funeral, at Canton, Ohio, on Thursday. THE NEW PRESIDENT. WASHINGTON, September 15. Colonel Roosevelt succeeded to the Presidency automatically. Upon reaching Buffalo he proceeded, under escort, to condole with Mrs. M'Kinley. He was afterwards sworn in, announcing his intention to continue absolutely unbroken Mr M'Kinley's policy for the peace, prosperity, and honor of their beloved country. THE WORLD MOURNS. WASHINGTON, September 15. Grief in America is universal. ExPresident Grover Cleveland was greatly shocked. He deplored that free institutions and a faithful discharge of duty should be encompassed by danger of assassination. Mr W. J. Bryan, the late President's opponent for the Presidency in 1896 and 1900, amidst tears, mentioned his personal esteem for Mr M'Kinley. Wall street and all other Ameriran exchanges are

closed, and will be kept closed till Thursday. LONDON'S TRIBUTE. LONDON, September 15. The news of President M'Kinley's death was received in London with the deepest sorrow. The flags .vere half-masted on the offices of the Australian Agents-General and public buildings. The Lord Mayor sent a message of profound sympathy to Mr Choate, the American Ambassador. i. The Methodist Conference -luring the morning prayed for the sufferer, and adjourned their sittings. The London Stock Exchanges suspended all operations. j THE COMMONWEALTH'S MESSAGE. I SYDNEY, September 15. The flags were half-masted generally out o' respect, to President M'Kinley. The Federal and State Premiers cabled their condolences to Mrs M'Kinley. References to the death were made in most of the churches. THE .KING'S GRIEF. LONDON, September 14. The King telesranhed to Mr Choate: '' M ost truly sympathise wjfh the American n'"*irm at the loss of a distinguished and eror-to-be-regretted President." ! NEW ZEALAND'S MESSAGE. ! Tmnwdiately upon receipt of the news of the death of President M'Kinley yesterday ; morning the Government asked' Lord Ranj f' ; rly to forward a message through Mr : Chamberlain conveying to Mrs M'Kinlev the heartfelt sympathy of the people o"f Now Zealand upon the death of her dear and good husband,- and their sympathy with the people of the United States upon the grrat sustained by the demise of their noble and faithful son, and stating that the people share their grief, and will ever bear in grateful memory the name of their illustrious and distinguished President M'Kinley. A VIPER'S BROOD. JOHANN MOST ARRESTED. POLICE PRECAUTIONS. WASHINGTON, September 13. Johann Most has been arrested at New York. He is said to have avowed iis intention to kill Colonel Roosevelt, the new President. He was arrested for publishing an inflammatory article in the 'Freisei' of the 7th inst. [Most is a well-known Anarchist. He has for many years held forth in the columns of his own paper, and in the public eating-houses and other places which he was wont to frequent in New York. His doctrines were well known, and his "protection" by the authorities repeatedly suggested.] NEW YORK, September 15. (Received September 16, at 8.45 a.m.) Johann Most has been released on bail amounting to l,ooodol. The authorities, fearing that the crowd would attack Czolgosz in gaol, augmented the police guard, while two regiments are kept in readiness in the armories. Edelbert Stone, who was arrested for his indiscreet prediction that the President would be shot, has been released. DEATH CERTAIN FROM THE FIRST. WASHINGTON, September 15. (Received September 16, at 8.45 a.m.) The doctor's report of the autopsy states that the tissue round each hole made by the bullet was gangrenous; the upper end of the kidney was struck, and torn and gangrenous, and the track of the bullet affected the pancreas. Death, surgically and medically, was unavoidable. It was the direct result of the bullet wound. THE SAME CABINET MINISTERS. WASHINGTON, September 15. President Roosevelt, after taking the | oath, walked over unescorted and afked the i members of the late President's Cabinet to retain their portfolios. THE MURDERER'S TRIAL. WASHINGTON, September 15. .Czolgosz will be tried immediately. CONTINENTAL MESSAGES. The Kaiser and Kaiserin sent most touching messages of sympathy. President Loubet and M. Delcasse cabled striking and sincere condolences. AMERICA THANKS AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, September 16. In reply to the condolences despatched at the end of last week, Lord Hopetoun has received from the American Ambassador, London, a cable conveying to Lord Hopetoun and Lord Ranfurly the most sincere gratitude and thanks of the American Government for their sympathy. He adds that the messages coming from the remotest quarter of the British Empire, and all inspired with the same earnest brotherly interest, have touched the hearts of the President's countrymen, and are deeply appreciated. MOURNING IN NEW YORrt. NEW YORK, September 15. (Received September 16. at 8.45 a.m.) The. New York City Hall and many of the houses are draped in black. Mr Croker is draping all the Democratic headquarters. He has placed the words " God's , way; His will be done," in white letters I over the portals. THE BRITISH COURT IN MOURNING. ENGLAND'S GRIEF. LONDON, September 15. (Received September 16, at 8.45 a.m.) The King has directed the British Court to go into mourning for one week out of respect to the murdered President. Ine feeling in Great Britain is stirred quite as much as in America against the un-American, un-English methods of the Anarchists. The King inquired daily as to Mr M'Kinley's condition throughout the President's illness. Sir T. Lipton, in sending his condolences, declared that the death would be nowhere felt more keenly than amongst the British people. THE GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE. AUCKLAND'S TRIBUTE. AUCKLAND, September 16. Lord Ranfurly sent the following telegram to the American Consul:—"l desire to express to you my sincerest sorrow at the loss which the American nation has sustained in the death of President M'Kinley in the pest week. I had hoped that he would soon recover, but the suddenness of the change has thoroughly moved us. I have cabled to America on behalf of Now Zealand." The Premier telegraphed to the Consul, stating that the Government have the Governor to convey to Mrs M'Kinley, through the Secretary of State, the heartfelt sympathy of tie people of New Zealand. The Premier also telegraphed: " I desire to express to you, as New Zealand Consul for the United States, my own sincere sympathy at the great loss the American people have sustained." Mr Dillingham also received a message ; from the Premier on Saturday evening, forwarding the resolution passed by Parliament. The Premier said: "I hear now that your great and beloved President is sinking. Words fail to express how sorry I am at the probability of a fatal ending, i and how deeply I sympathise with the I great nation which you so worthily repreuaoi ia our colauv. Immediatalv now*

came to-day my Government requested His Excellency, through the Secretary of State, to convey our expressions of horror at the diabolical attempt, and our sympathy with the sufferer, Mrs M'Kinley, and relatives. In any communication you are sending I would desire that, as far as the usual etiqu tte will permit, you should convey to all our warmest sympathv and condolence." Mr Dillingham has cabled the messages of condolence from His Exctllencv, the Premier, and from the people of New Zealand to the United States Yesterday Mr Dillingham received agreat rrnny sympathising visitors, and in nearly fcll the Auckland churches feeling references were made to the death of Mr M'Kinley. The congregations seemed dteply impressed by the lamentable occurrence. In addition to the pulpit references, in many instances the Dead March was played. THE 'NEW ZEAL-VND TIMES'S' COMMENTS. • [From Our Special Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, September 16. A somewhat singular article published u. the 'New Zealand Times' this morning says that beyond all doubt? the assassination of President M'Kinley was, to some extent at least, due to the licentious language and bitter epithets employed by some of his political opponents, and then proceeds: " We have just had in this country an example of which if too often shown in discussing the* actions and motives of people in authority, the member for Bruce may be complimented upon his amenableness, reason, and complete withdrawal of the grave out utterly unwarrantable charge made arrainst the Premier on Friday but 'that withdrawal docs not absolve, him from blame. When the Americans have dried their tears of cenuine sorrow, and paid their tributes to the genuine worth of President M'SinJey, thf-y must calmly but sternly adcress themselves to the task of avenging his death; b-.it while they deal unsparingly with the Anarchist element, they ought not to ignore the lesson we have endeavored to enforce—that a curb must also be placed on political invective and upon those who make reckless accusations based on the flimsiest of grounds." THE PREMIER'S INTERVIEW WITH THE LATE PRESIDENT. [From Our Special Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, September 16. To-day I interviewed the Premier regarding his visit to the late President of the United States at Washington on the occasion of his Jubilee visit. He says that the late President M'Kinley was most courteous and affable, and his inquiries showed an intimate knowledge of New Zealand politics, and a keen interest in the progress of the Australasian colonies. The discussion turned largely on the future of the Hawaiian Islands, about which there was some trouble pending owing to the refusal of the Republic to allow Japanese labor to land there, and a United States warship was then at Honolulu. Mr Seddon went on to say: " I then discussed the matter with the President and his Ministers. No objection had been raised up to that time. In fact, the United States Government were favorably inclined towards Great Britain and the States holding a protectorate over the Islands. The result of my interview was that the late Mr John Sherman (Mr M'Kinley's first chief Secretary of State) was against expansion, whilst the President was equally determined that the Hawaiian Islands should pass into the hands of the United States. Of all the great men I met during my. travels, the late President M'Kinley was in the foremost position. I found him very favorab.e to the British, proving the old saying that blood is thicker than water, and he spoke with reverence of the country from which his ancestors came. The tune of our interview was just after the General Election of 1896, and the ante room was crowded with persons seeking office. He jokingly asked whether there was anything of that kind in New Zealand. I said : " I presumed that they were famous office-seekers who claimed that the Government were under an obligation to them, and that the same thing was not unknown in New Zealand on a minor scale." He cordially wished me every success at the Jubilee celebration, and spoke in kindly terms of the profound respect in the United States for our good Queen Victoria. He said that the United States would be well represented, and expressed the hope that the celebrations would be a great success He was very polite in his reception of Mrs and Miss Seddon, and made some humorous remarks about female franchise. His manner was pleasing, and showed him tho possessor of a great personality and magnetic influence. I came away with the idea that he was a man who, having once said a thing, was not likely to easily turn aside, and that there would be no departure from the.M'Kinley tariff, or as to the admittance of New Zealand goods into the United States. A REMARKABLE CASUAL STATEMENT. In 'Munsey's Magazine' for April, in the course of an ar icle entitled 'A. Wall fctreet Boom,' the following paragraph apropos of Mr M'Kinley's campaign occurs:— "Plans involving a"billion dollars were at stake. The men concerned were extraordinarily intelligent—whence the billion-cool-headed, unsentimental, and very well informed. They were so sure that Mr M'Kinley would win that they quietly went on about their business, and mado plans which would in all probability have gone to smash had Mr Bryan been elected. They did not parade their convictions, because it would not be well to encourage a general fteling of over-ccnfider.ee. ' They were justified by the event. But they took enormous chancs, i.one the less. For who could guarantee, that some dismal day in Sep ember they might not see, in huge type, on the front page of the newspapers, 'The President Assassinated!' or read that he was dying of disease of an accident? Had such a catastrophe caused, the inevitable stock market crash, the philosophers of the street would have told you that the financiers had failed to discount the frailty of human life." PULPIT REFERENCES. In the course of the forenoon service at First Church yesterday the Rev. James Gibb made reference to the death of the late President, saying : " I have received a communication to the effect that President MlKinley has passed away. It is but fitting that I should, in a few sentences, express the intense detestation felt by all of us for the horrible crime which has resulted] in the death of a great statesman and a noble man. Words fail me to characterise the conduct of the wretch who lifted his hand against the President, and of the infamous brood to which the assassin belongs. They are not worthy of the name of men. They are fiends in human shape. I am sure that in saying so I only express the feeling of every man and woman here. It is fitting, not only that we should give voice to our detestation of this monstrous crime, but also to our profound sympathy with the great American nation, who are this day plunged into, a sea. of sorrow. They have lost a great citizen and a wise and strong chief magistrate. To them our sympathy is due; but even more to the wife and family of the deceased President. Only God can measure their loss; only He can sustain them under this unutterable affliction. To the compassions of Him who can make all things work together for good do we this day commend them. As an expression of our sympathy with them and in commemoration of one who was f he ruler of a mighty people, and, as there is every reason to believe, a true Christian man, I shall ask the organist to play the Dead March in 'Saul.'" This was immediately done, the congregation standing reverently the while. The Rev. W. Chirzon-Siggers announced to the morning congregation of St. Matthew's yesterday the fact that President M'Kinley was dead. Instead of the offertorium, the Dead M,arch in 'Saul' was played by Mr A. W. Lilly. The vicar in his sermon briefly referred to the sad loss, remarking that the late President had been offered as a sacrifice upon the altar of liberty and put to death on the cross if license in a.land whera so many had for long years confused liberty and license. As Nature abhorred a vacuum, it followed that

except a man was filled with those ennobling truths contained in the Christian and Jewish religions, then his mind would be filled with ideas which manifested themselves in works like those of Anarchists. The Anarchist went on the baseless assumption that the mind could be satisfied with negations. He believed in nothing. _ The revolt of Nature was shown in the filling of his mind with evil. His position was one of invincible ignorance. The only cure was that set forth by the Apostle, who bade us put to an end the ignorance of ;;11 unreasonable and senseless men by our own well-doing. The life of the late President, from the days that he worked as a Sunday school teacher onwards, was marked l;y thorou?hness and a desire to act honestly and honorably. In the evening there was a , special memorial service, copies of which were supplied to the congregation, consistin r of appropriate hymns and psa'm. The vicar contrasted the freedom which comes from the truth as taught by Christ with that which would do as a motto for such uk Anarchists: "There is no God, and tbe ape was our first Adam." It was pointed out that Anarchism and such dehumanising rreods were the opposite swing of the pendulum from a deepening of true life which .vas going on in tho world, and that the r-nly cure for an "ism" which took i\o notice of the sufferings of others or of i f s own devotees was the old one of better lives lived by those who enjoyed the blessings of civilisation since the days of Christ. The organist played the Funeral Marches' r ' : Peethoven, Guilmant, and the Dead March during the largely-attended and devoiion.l service. At All Saints' Church during morning servics the Rev. Mr Wayne, who officiated, a nnunced tho sad news of the death of Pr< i.Vnt M'Kinley, asking the congregation to join in hymn 401, 'Now the laborer's task is o'er,' which was followed b- the Dead March in 'Saul,' the whole c-ngregalion standing. In the evening th organ's ("Mr Haggitt) played Schubert's Fu eral as an outgo'ng voluntary, many of the congregation remaining, and sov Ta'. returned when the solemn strains were recognised. Reference was also made (o the sad event at St. Paul's Cathedral and in other Anglican churches about Duned n. At Holy Innocents', Leith Valley, th" congregation stood whilst the organist (M : *s Skey) plaved Handel's Dead March in ' S. ul' At Knox Church the Rev. Mr Hewitson made feeling reference in his prayers, both at the mon ing and evening service, to the death of the President. On each occasion the Dad March was played by the organist (Mr Bartb), while the congregation revrently stood. In the course of the service at Trinity Wcslevan Church yesterday morning the Rev. W. A. Sinclair, who officiated, re-fpi-rrd to the sad news of the death of the President. The rev. gentleman expressed deep sympathy with the American nation and the family of President M'Kinley in the'r loss, and horror at the das'ardly deed of the assassin. The Dead March was played. The evening service was conducted by the Rev. P. W. Fairclough, who also made reference to the sorrowful event in the course of a prayer. Beethoven's Funeral March was played, and the anthem 'The vital spark' was rendered At St. Stephen's Presbyterian Church yesterday the Rev. Mr M'lntyre made feeling reference to the death of President M'Kinley. The Dead March was played, the congregation remaining standing. At the Central Mission service in the Garrison Hall a special prayer was offered for Mrs M'Kinley and the Republic. The Rev. W. A. Sinclair made special reference to the death of the President, and said that there would be deep sympathy with | the American people in this their hour of sorrow. The hymns for the evening service were altered to be appropriate to-,the occasion, and the Dead March was played. At the North-east Valley Baptist Church yesterday morning the Rev. Mr Shiner referred very feelingly to the calamity that had befallen the American nation owing to the sad death of President M'Kinley, and asked for God's guidance to them in their hour of sadness. At the opening of the service the organist played Beethoven's ' Funeral March' on the death of a hero, and during the collection the Dead March in 'Saul' was played, the congregation stardng meanwhile. Another funeral march ■r»s ]lay d a.t the evedrg service. At the K : ng street Tabernacle Mr Watt referred to the appalling crime that had cut short a useful life in its prime and robbed the American people of their honored head. For the Ihird time a dastardly attack had been made on a President hy the spirit of anaichy or anti-Christ, and had succeeded a.irain. And so long as sheltered wilhin her fold such destructive secret agencies as Fenianism and anarchy she would sow the wind and must continue to reap the vhirlwind. But we offer, said the preacher, our prof out d sympathy to the widow in the hour of her great sorrow, and earnestly pray that God will richly bless, comfort, and sustain her. At Wesley Church, Cargill road, yesterday morning the Rev. T. G. Brooke, taking as his text the words "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own' eves" (Judges xvii.. 6), referred to the death' of President M'Kinley and the appalling manner in which it was accomplished. The civilised world now bows its head and weeps with those who weep. With us it is a matter of more than national sympathy. The Americaus, though under another flag, are of the same ancestral stock as ourselves, speak the same language, and are moved by the Kime ideals. The President was both a'great man and a good man, and no occupant of the White House has proved himself a worthier representative of his great nation. It is, however, as a loyal disciple of Jesus Christ that he showed to the greatest advantage. In his young manhood he accepted the obligat ons involved in the claims of God, and all through his career has shaped both his pub.ic and private conduct hy those principles. One of his last acts in connection with his church was to send a written message to a convention of 20.000 of its young people who were assembled in Chicago last July, urging them to holy living and earnest service in the cause of Christ. At Mornington Wes'.evan Church last evening the Rev. J. J. Lewis made reference to the death of President. M'Kinley. Five years ago, about the time M'Kinley was electd President for the first time, he (Mr Lewis) was attending the great Metho dist Conference at Cleveland, Ohio. He noticed that whenever M'Kinlev's name was ment.oi.ed tho 4,000 persons who constituted the meeting broke into cheers, and he that this was not so much because M'Kinley was a Methodist as on account of his high moral tone, pure life, and general worih. The newspapers of that country tkscend to low depihs during po.itical contests; but they could not find anything to say against the personal character of the /ato President of the United States of America. Appropriate references were made at the Hanover street Baptist Church yesterday to the mournful death of President M'Kinley as. tho result of the assassins bullets, in the afternoon Mr Maclaren, the superintendent of the Sunday school, rcpoiied the sad fact, and gave an account of the career of the noble man. who was as eminent for his Christian character as for his ability and power as the head of the mi hty Republic. In token of their sorrow and sympathy all the teachers and scholars rose in solemn silence while the bereaved family and nation were commended affectionately to the God of all comfort. At the evening sei vice t he Rev G Wamwnght expressed the abhorrence of the congregation of the dastardly deed which hd deprived the President of life. He said the unpronounceable name of the assassin would go down to posterity coupled with the name of Judas, who had betrayed His Master with a kiss. No words could express adequate detestation of the meanness which had taken advantage of the President's kindly courtesy to fire at him the shots which had ended his useful life. Such deeds of shame were a dishonor to our common humanity. * Warm and loving sympathy was also expressed with the family and the Republic which had been suddenly bereaved, and tue hope was voiced that the comforts of God might be multiplied unto them, the rev. gentleman further trusted that somehow this fearful crime and this unspeakable calamity would be overruled for pood, and that the destructive forces of lawlessness and anarchy whose existence had been revealed in this appalling manner might be restrained and repressed. He said, too, that while *e detested the crime and mourned the loss.

we must not forbear our triumphant Joy that another Christian soul baa entered into the rest that remaineth for the children of God. As a sign of this exultant faith he asked the audience to sing the hymn 'For all Thy saints who from their labors rest,' which was done with deep feeling and manifest sincerity. Speaking from the text Mark xiv., ("And-kissed Sim") at the Moray place Congregational Church last evening, the Rev. Mr Saunders said: "It would not be difficult to offer many apologies, such as some now make for Judas, for him who has shot down President M'Kinley. One could point out almost with certainty that Czolgosz was not actuated by personal motives ; that he himself bad received no nwciai wrong, and was not therefore hnrrieo Into crime by anger or by a craving for revenge. Whatever Judas may have been, some may say this man is undoubtedly a mistaken enthusiast. He sought to advance impossible ideals. In a sense he has given himself with courage to certain death in order to further, as he so mistakenly thinks, the cause of humanity. But when they have said all this, it remains that his deed was Judas-like in its treachery and deadliness. Substitute our Anglo-Saxon handshake for the kiss of the Ens-terns, and the crime is practically similar. There was the pretence of friendship, the simulation of respect, the cloaking of a deadly intent with affability and smiles. Then death to an innocent man, to a righteous governor, to an upright statesman, to a sincere and wise helper of his country. Let there be no obliquity of our moral vision when viewing this case. Let there be no foolish and weak sentiment. Let us rather follow our God in outspokenness concerning evil. So will we call this deed by its true, short, emphatic, uncompromising name of murder. A murder, too, aggravated by a heartless treachery. A murder perpetrated in the freest of countries and where every citizen has a directing voice. A murder not of some Belfelected tyrant, or hereditary despot, but of the chosen of the people themselves. Oh, no, let there be no moral confusion here—no apology for crime—but a frank recognition of the deed as lacking scarcely any element of detestableness. And, alas! that it should be true—a deed that must be recognised as but the flaring-up at one point, as in lurid sulphurous flame, of the deadly forces of evil that are working underground in society to-day. Though 'lear-sighted men without exception will condemn this murder of America's chief citizen, there are people, alasl who will not. With some he will be a hero. Others will apologise for his crime; they will be forward to offer excuses. These are the more dangerous, and by their action'accentuate, a growing tendency to make light of all evil. tThese apologists refer to heredity, and in the case before us will say: ' Poor fellow, he was born witb his history in him. Of Polish birth, the wrongs of his native land have tainted his blood.' Or they plead environment: 'He is to be pitied, for he is a victim to circumstances. He was' probably ca'ly thrown among Anarchists, and was ypmmitted to their programme before he grasped its dreadful nature.' Such excuses for murder must not be held valid. Crime must still be recognised as crime, unless we would make society impossible and the Kingdom of God a hopeless dream. As for President M'Kinley, we sincerely deplore bis death. la him we see a useful hie cut otf all too soon. He has fallen in the midst of his days, his plans unfulfilled and his work unfinished. Yet we will remember as a Christian people that though dead, he still lives, and that his powers will blossom and bear fruit otherwhere. Our sympathy is with his wife; 'tis the survivor who dies. The suffering is hers. May she know in this dark hour all the rich consolations which are in Christ Jesus. Onr sympathy is also with our sister nation, the great Republic. An upright citizen, an honest politician, a humane statesman, a true man is lost to her. May God multiply such sons in her midst. Meanwhile we pray that the United States > and ourselves may hold to our faith that God is in Heaven and that all will be well with the world." After the sermon Mr Cooke played the Dead March in 'Saul.' He also played Beethoven's Funeral March as an outgoing voluntary. Our Christchurch special wires:—"References were made to President M'Kiuley's death in most of the churches in the city and suburbs yesterday, and funeral marches were played. Flags are flying at half-mast to-day from the Government Buildings, the Post Offire, municipal offices, and many private establishments." Tho flags of the various offices, including at the American Consol's office, the Town Hall, and Government Buildings, were again lowered out of respect to the late President to-day.