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 11 ^tttltent, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." 
 
 Ill ^xxvocatiott. TRev. Dr. Tk, Ikobler 
 
 O Lord Ruler of the Universe, King of the Nations, 
 Father of Men, Refuge of every woe-stricken Soul. Thou 
 art our light in every darkness, and upon Thee we cast our 
 burdens in time of trouble and distress. And so we come 
 before Thee, O God, to-day, all Thy people in all sections of 
 this land, each son and daughter of this great nation, bowed 
 down with a heavy grief. We have left our daily vocations 
 to enter Thy sanctuaries and seek Thy aid and Thy comfort 
 in our great common sorrow. Thou hast made us drink the 
 cup of bitterness. Out of jubilant joy Thou hast plunged us 
 into universal gloom. We have been robbed of the object of 
 our glory, and pride. The crown has fallen from our head, 
 a prince among men, the twice-elect of his people who led 
 them to glory and power and who seemed destined to achieve 
 greater triumphs while advancing on the road of peace and 
 honor, of cpncord and friendship with the nations. Thou hast 
 suffered him to fall by the hand of the wicked, and m Thine 
 inscrutable wisdom Thou didst not heed the prayer and sup- 
 plications of all these millions for their stricken chief, and 
 we not only grieve over the loss of one beloved by all, because 
 he was a lover of men, but because Thou, O God, didst pour 
 the grace of a kindly soul upon him, upon all he did and said. 
 We are filled with shame at the thought that in our own free 
 
land such an atrocious deed should have been committed, 
 that we should harbor in our midst a spirit that defies justice 
 and plots evil and subverts the majesty of the law which 
 Thou hast planted in the heart of man. 
 
 But Thou O God, art a God of compassion and love, and 
 in contrition and humiliation we approach Thy throne of 
 mercy, to-day when the body of our martyr president is laid 
 to rest, askmg Thee for light in our gloom and for comfort in 
 our national affliction. 
 
 Teach us O God, to bless Thee for the seeming evil which 
 Thou sendest us, as well as for the good, and make us realize 
 the blessings that come even from hours of trial. Fill us with 
 the spirit of gratitude for the beautiful life that was given us 
 and for those principles of liberty and manhood that have 
 given our nation the strength and the wisdom to stand the 
 hardest tests, and come out triumphantly and with regener- 
 ated vigor out of every trial and misfortune. 
 
 Be with us, O God, m our devotion, and hear our prayers 
 and let all parts and members of our great commonwealth as 
 they are united to-da}- in tears and m sorrow, be all the closer 
 united together in love and loyalty and for the tasks im- 
 posed upon us by Thy Providence. Imbue us with faith and 
 hope and lift us into the full consciousness that we are Thy 
 children, that, while all life is fleeting we abide in Thee, and 
 while all earthly greatness vanishes, Thy word, Thy spirit 
 lasteth forever. That though man be humbled. Thy name 
 shall be exalted and glorified forever. Amen. 
 
 IV gtntljettt. " O Lord what is Man." 
 
 Psalm 103 
 Psalm 112 
 
 VI ^ebren* §:0n0. l>r. Silverman anD Cboir 
 
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 VII Memorial ^cvtnotx* TRabbl Samuel Scbulman 
 
 text: lamkntations V, i6, 19. 
 
 The crown of our head hath fallen ; woe unto us for we 
 have sinned. Thou, O Lord, remainest forever, Thy throne 
 from generation to generation. 
 
 These words voice for us the full message which this 
 sorrow-laden hour is to speak to us. They are the cry of a 
 heart rent with grief, but also the assertion of an immovable 
 trust in the future. They are wrung from the Prophet of old 
 as he sat weeping over the ruins of Zion. His manly soul 
 was convulsed with sobs as he beheld the pride of his people 
 fallen and trampled in the dust. His sublime faith was 
 strong enough to master his grief and see in the everlasting- 
 ness of God whose throne is established on righteousness and 
 judgment, the eventual salvation and renewal of the glories 
 of this nation. 
 
 Thus the Republic, speaking out of the depths of one nat- 
 ional heart with unanimity of mind and speech first gives vent 
 to the great woe which has bowed the nation, but in the 
 very midst of its sorrow and humiliation it becomes conscious 
 of its strength. Our coming together to-day in response to 
 the President's proclamation, show us the relation in which 
 government stands to religion. Government does not com- 
 mand it nor prescribe it ; it neither fosters nor promotes it. 
 But it relies for its own strength, stability and sanctity upon 
 men's sacred convictions as to the bindingness of law, their 
 sense of responsibility to their maker and faith in a righteous 
 Ruler of nations. In the trying hour of national necessity or 
 calamity, when the hearts of men are stirred to their inmost 
 being and we are made to feel how weak and ineffective is 
 human planning and building if God does not will the fruition 
 or achievement, the magistrate naturally falls back upon the 
 unfailing resource of religion. He invited men to worship, to 
 
turn their hearts in prayer and humiliation, in repentance 
 and holy resolve. That we need no urging is proved by the 
 earnest and zealous patriotism which recently made one of 
 our holiest days in the year almost lose its individual character 
 in the all-overshadowing thought of the nation's loss. It is a 
 sacred privilege to share such a grief, because by so doing, 
 we feel our oneness with our fellow-men and we understand 
 that country means not only a land to live in and opportunity 
 to make a living, but that it is a synonym for our mental and 
 moral possessions and above all that our country means the 
 loftiest ideals of humanity in which we share. 
 
 A national grief brings out more clearly than anything 
 else the thought of men's mutual dependence, their mutual 
 responsibilities for every deed that is permitted to be done. 
 And when the cause of our grief is the death, by an assassins' 
 hand, of the man who not only was twice honored by the 
 nation's choice, called to shape its policies and guide its des- 
 tinies, but was also in his career, in his character, and in his 
 conscious farewell to the world and its prizes, a striking 
 embodiment of American genius, then every heart that is not 
 dulled by selfish interest and every mind that is not warped 
 by bigoted prejudice and every soul that is not too torpid to 
 be affected by an event that shows us the sad uncertainty of 
 life and the mystery of its divine disposal, must cry out with 
 anguish and tears, " O, the crown of our head hath fallen." 
 
 We are first overwhelmed by our terrible loss. We stand 
 bereaved of a man who, in the most exalted station, made 
 conspicuous the strength, the pride and the blessing of Amer- 
 ican institutions. The successful and beloved President was 
 an embodiment of the nation's greatness. He was the unex- 
 celled type of its splendid manhood. He was the exemplar 
 of that quiet, broad-minded yet heart-felt religiosity which is 
 the creative inspiration and restraining force in American 
 freeedom and democracj-. His career was the illustration of 
 
American opportunity. His achievements, while they assure 
 him an immortal place in history will, on analysis, be found to 
 be the result of American character ; its passion for liberty 
 and its faith in its own irresistible power and destiny. His 
 accomplishments as a statesman are perhaps the clearest 
 example in our career, of a readiness to interpret the will of 
 the people and become its instrument. No President like 
 McKinley, who stood at a crisis in the nation's life and with 
 his executive pen wrote a new page in its record, was so de- 
 pendent upon the judgment and enthusiasms of the masses. 
 Few leaders have therefore been blessed in a so great a 
 measure with the confidence and affections of their country, 
 men and have been permitttd to win such world-historic success 
 by studying patiently, firmly and unselfishly the desires and 
 aspirations of those who were the source of their power. The 
 President's administration at first appeared to some as slow, 
 hesitating and vacillating. In truth it was a continuous un- 
 remitting study of the people's thoughts and an energetic 
 realization of them in policy. McKinley's greatness was 
 therefore in a distinct sense the people's greatness, an ex- 
 pression of the capacity for self-government and its undaunted 
 faith in the mission of freedom to every corner of the globe 
 where the fate of war might bring our flag and duty demand 
 its stay. Who more than the President resisted the multitude 
 that clamored for war three years ago ? Firm as an immov- 
 able rock he stood amid the billows of enthusiastic frenzy, 
 partisan indignation and personal vilification. Oh, he loved 
 
 PEACE BECAUSE DEEP IN HIS HEART HE ALWAYS LOVED HIS 
 
 FELLOW-MEN. He Shrank from the horrors of war. His whole 
 mature life having been devoted to the study of methods for 
 his people's prosperity and their industrial supremacy among 
 the nations, the dominating motive of his character — that 
 which explains his success in politics — his disarming of 
 opponents, his winning of friends, and his ultimate com- 
 
 v.. 
 
mand of the admiration of the world, was "concord and not 
 conflict." And yet, as has often happened in the world's 
 history, the tender-hearted man of peace became by necessity 
 of circumstances the resolute man of war ; and he proclaimed 
 that war for humanity whose purpose was the freedom of one 
 island and whose ultimate results were the bringing to the 
 distant isles not a chain of oppression but a charter of re- 
 demption. William McKinley will have the unparalleled 
 record of having presided over his people in a time of unin- 
 terrupted prosperity, of having by his lovable, conciliatory 
 personality set the final seal upon the everlasting re-union of 
 North and South, of having obtained for America an unprece- 
 dented authority in the world's councils, of having proved to 
 the world the purity of our purposes inasmuch as he guaran- 
 teed the sincerity of our motives in the Philippines by the mag- 
 nanimity of our conduct in China. And he accomplished all 
 this by keeping his ear close to the heart of his fellow country- 
 men and while reading their desires, he obtained their love 
 and gratitude. Few careers like his, rich as it is in personal 
 success, national glory and potent with future consequences 
 for the country were, at the same time, so faithfully and con- 
 sistently a commentary on the possibilities of American 
 Democracy. His record was written by the deliberate will of 
 the nation and inspired by what is best in its character, and 
 when we see that all this embodiment of our political wisdom, 
 of the charity of our liberty, of our industrial prowess and our 
 national greatness can be swept away by the mad act of an 
 assassin, a great sorrow siezes us as we stand awed, crushed 
 by a grief which we hope will chasten and we feel humiliates. 
 What is the crown of human achievement if in one mo- 
 ment its brilliancy is the admiration of the world and in 
 another it is flung into the dust and ashes of death ? What is 
 the boast of our free institutions, of government by law and 
 through law, if a misguided wretch can, by striking down our 
 
beloved President, strike at the heart of our freedom and 
 mock with the insane ghtter of his hateful and revengeful eye 
 the jewels of our liberty and self-government ? Alas, our 
 crown hath fallen ! By as much as our President was near 
 our hearts, a son of the people and never for a moment for- 
 getting the ties that bound him to the humblest of the land as 
 his ambitions were not directed to self-aggrandizement but 
 were devoted to services for us, by as much as his dreams of 
 grandeur were visions of our prosperity and his well-weighed 
 decisions of policy voiced the aims and hopes of millions, as 
 his greatness was the epitome of the nation's genius, by so 
 much must we see in his martyrdom our threatened calamity 
 and in his death a blow at our cherished ideals. 
 
 We weep for the fallen crown not only of great achieve- 
 ment but of splendid American manhood ; we mourn the loss 
 of a noble character. He was found prepared for the most 
 unexpected emergencies because he was early trained to the 
 demands of duty. His unsullied integrity, his fine sense of 
 honor, consecration to the promotion of his country's pros- 
 perity and therefore the people's happiness, all these when we 
 remember the comparative pettiness of his pecuniary possess- 
 ions despite the tremendous power that he wielded, give the 
 lie to the base charge that in the nation's onward march he 
 permitted himself to be the instrument of others' greed. He 
 was indeed the captain of the proud and prosperous Ship of 
 State, but humanly speaking the only prize he ever won for 
 himself was the consciousness of duty well done in positions 
 of honor, and justified expectation of an immortal memorial 
 in the future. He illumined the politician's career with the 
 light of a sincere, unostentatious and unstinted patriotism. 
 His was a loving, conciliatory, loyal nature. He converted 
 many enemies but never became untrue to one friend. Twice 
 before his first nomination to the presidency might he by 
 skillful manipulation or discreet inaction have obtained the 
 
 J 
 
coveted honor, yet he, the " weak man " as he was sometimes 
 called by the superficial observers, had the only strength 
 worth having — the strength, not of obstinacy but of character. 
 He possessed the armament of virtue with which to resist the 
 frenzied siege of partisans when to have yielded and said yes 
 would have meant treason to friends and a violation of a 
 promise. And his loyality was presented in such a natural, 
 simple and matter of fact way that the deed was convincingly 
 illustrative of the man. When congratulated he calmly said : 
 " Is it such an heroic deed of honor not to have acted with 
 dishonor ? His greatness was the growth of his goodness. 
 "While he was the successful statesman, his success only made 
 evident to all what in every stage of his life he proved to be — 
 the lovable man. And as if to emphasize the source whence 
 flow the virtues that make for such a splendid type of man- 
 hood, he took home-life and giving an ideal example of what 
 it should be, of what chivalry, perfect devotion and unselfish 
 love should exist between man and wife, he let the benign 
 light of domestic happiness stream out to every home in the 
 land as a continous mentor and quickening influence. 
 
 Alas, fallen is the crown of our head! We weep for the 
 martyred President, we bewail the tragic death of the noble 
 man, and we weep also for the beautiful soul that has taught 
 the truth, which above all needs he learned in our age, that 
 the mind's power, the will's strength, the heart's tenderness 
 and the spirit's victory over hatred, suffering and death are 
 all rooted in a faith that is able to say, "It is God's way — 
 His will be done." 
 
 But not only do we weep. We are humiliated, we are 
 bowed down by our sense of sin. " Woe unto us for we have 
 sinned." We stand in the presence of God abashed, blushing 
 for our sinning human nature which could make such a crime 
 as the murder of the President a possibility. The human 
 soul is capable of sharing the highest glories of the race. It 
 
 V-.. 
 
must therefore be charged with the humiliation of its baseness. 
 Every noble thought, every generous deed, every heroic en- 
 deavor, every sublime triumph of mind or conscience as it 
 finds a response, an echo or a sympathy in our hearts, en- 
 nobles and enriches us, because while sharing its spirit we 
 make ourselves its heirs. On the other hand the meannesses, 
 the degradations and the crimes of man debase our humanity. 
 There is a deep sense of the word in which society shares the 
 responsibility for the wickedness allowed to flourish. There 
 can be no condoning of such a terrible deed as this done by 
 anarachy. It is the fruit of the gall and the wormwood of a 
 soul embittered by insane hatred and benighted by Godless- 
 ness. But we must ask ourselves, is our American life 
 altogether innocent of deeds which kindle the rage of anarchy 
 into a devastating flame ? Ah, friends, the answer to this is 
 the most awful significance of our beloved President's death 
 and might, if taken to heart, prove a chastening and educa- 
 ting influence. We ask, why does God permit such a terrible 
 calamity to a nation ? Such a question is difficult to answer. 
 " It is His way " and His ways are not our ways. One of the 
 profoundest truths taught by one of the greatest of Israel's 
 seers is that the innocent are often made to bear the iniqui- 
 ties of their generation and out of the wounds of the martyr 
 there flows healing for those who have gone astray. It is not 
 enough for us to be overwhelmed with grief; as intelligent 
 and moral beings we must, in the spirit of old Hebrew 
 prophecy and American Puritanism, seek some significance, 
 some educating message in every awful world-historic cal- 
 amity. We have been altogether too absorbed in the art of 
 making money to ponder well the tremendous responsibilities 
 which its possession entails. Numerous as are the noble 
 benefactors in our midst, yet it must be confessed that an 
 estrangement is growing more and more between those who 
 possess wealth and wield power, and those who have nothing 
 
and in the industrial machine are designated as " the mere 
 hands." While earnest men, serious students and lovers of 
 their fellow-men are devoting themselves by thought and ser- 
 vice to the bridging over of this chasm, demagogues have been 
 playing upon the passions of men and have been preaching 
 without restraint a gospel of hatred. Alas, have we not so 
 abused the precious and inviolable possession of a free 
 commonwealth — freedom of speech — that we have permitted 
 the license of hatred and incendiarism ? Have not our poli- 
 tical critics often spoken as if even the highest in the land 
 were not above corruption, and has not even our dead Presi- 
 dent been spoken of in words which would make it appear 
 that he, the simple man of the people, the very incarnation 
 of Democracy, was scheming to place a crown upon his head ? 
 Many a man and many a newspaper who m all sincerity now 
 join in the nation's grief, have not been without sin. Oh, we 
 cannot make any restoration to him, if through sins of omiss- 
 ion and commission we have contributed to his martyrdom. 
 Nor should we let the hysteria of grief make us reel in our 
 judgment or in a moment of wrath say we are ready to undo 
 the work of ages and abolish altogether freedom of speech. 
 But let us in humility and penitence learn the lesson which 
 Providence, it seems to me, teaches through this dreadful 
 event. Let us not forget the awful consequences which may 
 result from indiscriminate speech in a land of eighty millions, 
 where what is said in a corner may be flashed across the 
 globe. Let us remember that a word may prove a weapon 
 and a cartoon not a criticism but a crime, if these be the 
 sparks that kindle the mass of hate m a diseased soul. Let 
 this insight be our humiliating confession which we repent- 
 antly and prayfully make. 
 
 But this is not the time to speak only in accents of despair. 
 Let us emulate our dead President and be calm and com- 
 posed. Out of grief and humiliation speaks the Republic's 
 
 .^ 
 
triumph; its divine principles are everlasting — "Thou, O 
 Lord, remainest^ — thy Throne from generation to generation. " 
 Leaders may pass away, but the Republic lives. This is not 
 a government of persons, it is one of law. The hearts of the 
 people may break in anguish, but their government remains 
 unbroken. The assassin's crime may remove one President, 
 another equally the choice of the people (without the slightest 
 tremor of embarrassment to the State) instantly and peaceably 
 takes his place. Liberty may be abused, but it still remains 
 man's highest ideal and therefore his holiest possession — and 
 it will ENDURE. Conscious of its strains, it will seek by reason 
 and law to cleanse itself, but it will continue to shine and 
 bless men with undimmed splendor. Anarchy may denounce 
 law and wreak its vengeance on authority, but the calm and 
 sublime answer to it, in the spirit of a McKmley, which a 
 common-wealth of liberty-loving and law-abiding citizens 
 makes — is the gift of this very i.aw and justice even to the 
 assassin and the provision of able talent for his formal defence. 
 Righteousness and justice may be twisted by greed, trampled 
 by hate, spurned by envy, forgotten altogether by madness, 
 but inhering in the very organism of a government of the 
 people, for the people and by the people, their realization will 
 continually grow until human society mirrors the kingdom of 
 God whose throne is based on right and judgment. The 
 men whom the people elect pass away but their very worthi- 
 ness and patriotic sincerity teach us by word and precept that 
 greater than perishable man is the imperishable ideal of the 
 Republic — a people acting in freedom and restrained by law. 
 O, thou beloved, departed spirit of our great and good 
 President, we mourn thy loss in humility and contrition. We 
 bring thee the tribute of our heart's grief, of our sincere tears ; 
 but thou art not to be bewailed. Thy fame is undying. Thy 
 crown, fallen here, has been translated to celestrial bliss and 
 Thy name will abide uuforgetable on thy country's scroll. 
 
thou wilt take thy place with her great sons ; for thou hast 
 done well b}^ thy country. Thou wilt be remembered as one 
 of an immortal three. Future generations will proclaim thy 
 full praise when they say: Washington established American 
 liberty with independence; Lincoln preserved it through 
 union; and McKnley extended it to distant islands and op- 
 pressed races. Thy life was complete; the Master called 
 thee. Thy reward is certain. As for us, we will treasure thy 
 heritage, and even while we weep for these we will reconse- 
 crate ourselves with new hopes, holy resolves and immovable 
 faith to the duties of citizenship and to the welfare of the 
 Republic. 
 
 VIII ^nttjent. "Why art thou cast down my soul." 
 
 IX plcmorial ^vatjsv, TRcv. Dr. Ik. IRobler 
 
 Almighty Ruler over Life and Death! Stricken with 
 sorrow we humbly bow to Thy mysterious decrees, Overawed 
 by Thy judgments we recognize that Thou art a righteous 
 God and Thy path is the path of holiness. We thank Thee for 
 the assurance of Thy love which sustains us in the hour of 
 affliction, and for the certainty of immortality which Thou 
 hast planted in our soul. Oh how powerful does his convic- 
 tion become when a great and good life has ended, and is lifted 
 above the valley of tears into the transfiguring realm of 
 heavenly glory to bless generations to come! Should we 
 bewail the premature death of our beloved chief, Thy righ- 
 teous servant, as if we were without faith in Thee, and com- 
 plain that human hope has been deluded and human skill and 
 foresight have utterly failed ? Thou alone knowest which is 
 for our good and Thou allowest to each, high or low, his task 
 and his end according to Thy sublime designs. We thank 
 Thee. O God, for all the manifestations of Thy love to which 
 William McKmley's life gave glorious testimony before the 
 
world. We thank Thee that he was permitted to achieve 
 great things for our nation, and that he did Thy biddings 
 humbly and faithfully, devoutly and reverently, and yet man- 
 fully and bravely. We thank Thee that under his leadership 
 our nation progressed and prospered, opening new highroads 
 of commerce, new chambers of blessings for all lands and 
 nations on earth, and while promoting the cause of justice and 
 liberty and rendering the American name honored and re- 
 spected everywhere, he himself exhibited a noble type of 
 American manhood, a fine pattern of humanity, a spotless 
 character, an exemplar of civic and domestic virtue. And as 
 we thank Thee for the simple and pure life he led as citizen, 
 as soldier and statesman, as husband and son — a shining 
 example to many — so we bless Thee also for the heroic traits 
 he displayed at the end of his illustrious career, for the lesson 
 of fortitude and patience he gave amidst suffering and 
 ailment, for the love of justice and the reverence for the 
 majesty of the law which he manifested in the hour of greatest 
 pain and anguish, and for the beautiful words and songs of 
 faith upon his lips in his dying hour with which he seemed 
 to rob death of its horror and the grave of its sting. For all 
 these precious legacies he bestowed upon our nation we praise 
 Thee, O God, and we pray that the lessons of his life and of 
 his death may ever be fruitful of spiritual blessings to us and 
 our children and children's children. 
 
 Grant him whom Thou hast taken to Thyself O God, the 
 bliss and peace which Thou has vouchsafed for the good and 
 the righteous of all nations in the world of the spirit. Be with 
 her who was the faithful companion of his life, and sharer of 
 his trials and triumphs and be her strength and comfort in 
 her overwhelming grief. Bless him upon whom the great 
 burden of care and responsibility for the nation has so sud- 
 denly fallen. Thou hast endowed him with a keen sense of 
 duty, with a glowing patriotic spirit and with fearless courage 
 
in the battle for right and liberty. So guide and protect him 
 and his administration O God, that he may carry out his 
 lofty aims and intentions for the welfare and honor of our 
 land and the peace of the world. Bless our nation and banish 
 strife and malice forever. Let the spirit of iniquity and law- 
 lessness be crushed and justice and liberty triumph, and 
 strengthen each one of us in the conviction that while men and 
 generations come and go, the principles of truth and justice 
 and humanity abide and by them we rise from strength to 
 strength to see Thy face, O God, on Zion's hill. 
 
 Heal God every wound inflicted, dry every tear and 
 banish grief and woe from our midst, and so we all unite in 
 the recitation of the Kaddish prayer, hallowing the name of 
 God on earth as His name is hallowed in heaven. 
 
 X ^abbiftlt* Joined in by the Congregation. 
 
 XI Rational ^tj«t«. 
 xn ^ctxehiction* IRabbi Samuel Scbulman 
 
 PRESS OF 
 
 BLOOMINGDALE BROS. 
 NEW YORK. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 013 788 283 8