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u£l?fc. (§>£#Egt& lUfte&lJj mtft Jmxjmsd & Mtawsamgec.
GARFIELD MEMORIAL.
voxvitEfiS iinxons tiiii iie.iv
1‘llE-lVEXT.
Sr m»1ee'» Xlcqucnt ttadon-ilh
Dtilil riltmi’* l.ffe Stctlchci), HI*
I»o«-H* E.tloslzcU ntfS Hi* Motive*
Dcrradtd.
[B> Tele[«Mph.|
Washington, February 27.-—Al TO
oclock the doors (? the captlol Toro
'opened, and in bait an hour the gaiSories
of the House wSre lilted with these for-
Vanaie enough DC ‘hold tickets to tflin Gar
field memorial'services. Tire Souse was
called to order at 12, and firayor was d£
fered by tlic'uiaplain. Tho Speaker an
nounced Hfc House r#«»ty loiptrform i.i
part ot ttaricereraony. Al 12?W the mem
bers of <he Senate entered, TolloweB by
the judges of tlie tkqpreine Court. The
rresident arrived a few •vtinulcs later.
Prayer was offered by'Clioplain Tower.
The f resident pr#*or.„ Xr. lflavrv intro-
ducriu Mr. Blair.e. Mr.'Blaine,‘iu a loud,
clear voice, spoke as follews:
hi.aiste’s onreriON.
Mb. rawinur >-F#r the fnrnd time
Garfield's enriy opportunities for recur-i only from parliamentary experience. Into , achieved a victory ecarcely less wonderful
inn an education were extremely limited, , tins as.-emblaco of men Garfield entered j when,In 1864, ngainrt the secret desires of
and jwt werk sufficient to develop in him without special preparation, and it might i a strong administration, against the wise
an iatenso'desiTo to leant. He could ro«£ i almost bo Slid unexpectedly. 1 ho ques- I counsel of the older chiefs, against the con
servative iustinc'.s and even the moral
sense of the country, he forced a reluctant
Congress into a repeal of the Missouri
compromise. Mr. Thsddeas S*evons,in his j
nt three ytarsof age, h* • each waiter hs i tioo of taking cotamand of a divirion of
h«l the nivantaga of the district school, troops under General Thomas, or taking
He read stl the books to be found within ' his sea
ofrcfo of his iruquaintanoe; some of
them 1m got hy heart. While yet in child,
hood'bo was n cotritan* student of fhe Bi
ble, ar.d became familiar with its-litera
ture. The dignity and earcestney* of his
speech in his maturer life gave eviCenc-* of
this early trailing. At eighteen years of
age he was able to teach school,
-add thorceforward his ambition was to ob-
'tain a college education. To this end he
'bent all ins tfdorts, working-’ntho harvest
field, at the carpenter's bench, and, in the
winte- eef.-on, teaching the common
schools of tho neighborhood. Whilo thus,
laboriously occupied he fctJr.I time to pros,
ecuto Mi. studies, and was so successful
that at Plenty-twopearsOjf age he was able,
to eatvc the Junior class a* Williams Col-,
lege, than under the pirci-idcncy of the ven
erable and honored Mnrk Hopkins win
in the'fullnesr of bis pnwes, survives the
dtnilf nt pupil to wbeta he w*s of iacstints-
ble service.
T*.e history of X& J&eld’s iifo to tb".= .frri-
oA presents »*> *covel features. He had
tredoub’edly »h #r. peraeveranen, seliireli-
•ttoe, self svg-itci and umbltion-<,«nli-
ttes which, be it art 1 for tho honor of our
r-jantry, a eevasf here 1 ■ is f*» !*sxnoug
fae young wra bf Amen. i. B.-t'rom his
-' iulu-itioj at -V'illi.im* o-; • -lrd, tc I la; hour
t hi.s tragical fioath, G.trifefd's c >;r wu
in this generation the great da*iMtme:its ----
of th ; (.overuHxmt of tie United States tie eminent snfi« ceptional. m!j«1;-v ram,;
assembled in the Hull Of Representative^ through has-oar cattooal iwnoa^-Te.wving
to do honor ta the memory of a murdered *" * * ’ "
President. I.iucoln fell nt tHrj close of r.
mighty rtraggle dr. which tits passions S'
men had lawn deeply stirred. The trngionl
term nati.n; of hi*, treat life added'but sr.i-
othertothr lungthcned succe*siOn of hor
rors which had Ob-irkesl no many liirtsis
with thu blood-of th - first torn. tinrC-fld
was slain >in n day of peace, whCc brother
hnd I .(*(•». rceonnKed to brother, and when
nngfr and hate-lndbeenbanished frofQ tho
land. 'Whoever shall’bWonf ter draw the
E rtnui of minder, if tre wilt show** as it
g lie n exhibited wherei.tlc!i exant{Hn was
last to lluve been loekte for, lev trim not
give it ihetffltt'Visagodt Moloch, tk-o brow
knit*' d by-revenge, MtefMO black with set
tled bale. I*t him draw, rather,e. deco
rous.. smoollitfactd,-Woodless deicon; not
so much nr. example (f human nature in
itairinr*w;r«ntii of crin»>;,-ns an irtfihrnal be-
inr. a tior.den tneordinary •display and de-
veioi'inent-of his character.”
Fin in the landing of the irttfcrin.s at Ply
mouth lill Ttiu upitying ngoinst Charles
First, nheuA t vcvity tliousnnd -emigrants
came from England*o New England. A*
khey-came in pvrsvii of intcllw tusl free
dom >f.ud wvl?stastloc! indepen-
•denee 'rtT.her than for -worldly honor
*ud irrUfit.-tho omigrntion nr.ttr ally ceased.
•when the contest fur religious liberty b<^.
yftu ic earnest at home. The man who-,
atruckiiiis most effective hhovt for freedom)
of c.iwiscieou- by iv iling for tt e colonies in
lfi.O wonld'iiarolK.-cn accomitcd adesertec
to hum-after H’-W. The oprortunity h«C
then cornu on • the soil of-Fnglaod for that
great-r-»c test width esPiblialrod the anthot-
jty ol-Parliament, gave religious freedom
to ltd people, seat Charles totho block,
and o m-nittjdtu tho hands of Oliver Cr)
well tho tuprewe exacativo authority
Puglnud. The English emigration was
never renewed, ana fr«x the.-o twer.ty
tlior. Mini uten with a small omigrntion from
•Keutland and'from Prune • are descemlel
the vast nninb«?.s who Imre New-England
-blood in their.veins.
Jn I tie.a Uie ce vocation -of the elict or
Nautz by Louis XIV sc .ttoreii to otbef
•countries tocr hundredthousand PrnCest-
ai.l *. v. ho wtn among the most intelligent
and o.itcrprisiai* of Ere nc it subjects •.mer
chants of.capital, skilled manufacturers,
ami I: indicTjftsmeu, su|icrior nt the time
to ull otiiess in Europe- A considerable
number of these Huguenot French came to
Ainorica: n.ferr landed in New England and
-became tionosibly p.-omkieut in itu hi story.
Their names have in large part become
anglicised-or have dienr-penre 1, but their
b'ood is traceable in many of the most rep
utable, families, and thair- fame is perpetu
ated in honorable memorials and useful in
stitulioiM.
J ruin these two sources, the English-Pu
ritan ami tiie Erciich.Hnguenot, came the
late-President—nis fatbor,Abifcin Garfield,
being descended from thvmie, and his
mother, Elir-t Halloa,'from the other.
■It wits good-stock on both sides—none
better, none braver, none truer. . There was
in it an inheritance of oonrnge, of manli
ness, of imperishable Invo of liberty, of un
dying adherence to firincgile. -Gaifal i
vn- proud of his blood; and,.with as mnch
•sati.inciior. as if he weie.n Eritish noble
man, rending his et-italy aneentMl record
in ituBke«;peemge, Ito rpobe-of himself as
ninth in tlrsceutfro.n Otiose-who would not
endure llie«iipression of the btiaris, and
seventh .in descent Ivoei the bravo Fre..ch
ProUvInnls who refits*! to saL-mit to tir-
anny even front tho-Griuiu Monnrgne.
Gem ralOirfield delighted «do dwell on
these traits, aad, during his only visit to
England, he busted himself .in.iliseovor:ng
every trine of bis fovafathersin parish reg
istries and on ancient a-my-roh's. Hitting
with a friend in the gallery of the House of
Commons one night after a long-day's la
bor in this field of research, -he paid with
-ovidt-nt-elation thstau every .oar in which
for tbreenentaries patriots of .English blood
bad struck sturdy blown for cocslitutintia!
government and human .liberty, his family
hud been lepreseuted. They were nt M.irs-
ton Moor, nt Naseby and at thsston; they
were at Booker Hill, at S iratogn, and at
Monraou'h, and in his«wn person bad bat
tled for iko same great cause in the war
which preserved the union of U<e States.
Easing his father before he was two
years old, tho early life of GnrfieliLwns one
of privation, bat its poverty has been made
indelicately and unjustly prominent. Thon-
pands of readers haw imagined him as the
rugged starving ohiid, whose reality too
often greets the eye i. the squalid sections
of our inrge cities. Geoercl -Garfield’s in
fancy and youth had none of tkeir.dt stitn-
tiou, none of their pitiful features appeal
ing to the tender bean, and t the open
band of charity. He was a poor boy in the
same sense in which Henry Olay was a
poor boy; in which Andrew Jackson arose
poor boy; in whtuh Uooiel Webster .was a
poor boy; in tho sense in which a large ma
jority of the eminent men of America in
all generations have bren poor boys. Be
fore n multitude of men, iu a public speech,
Mr. Webster bore this testimony:
“It did not happen to mo to be bora in a
log cabin, hot my elder brothers and sis.
tors were born in a leg cabin raised amid
the snow-drifts of New Hihnpshire, at a
S sriod so early that when the smoke ro-o
rst from its rude chimney and curled
over the frozen hills there was no similar
evidence of n white man's habitation be
tween it and the seltli mints on the rivers
of Canada. Its rem- ins stilt exist. I make
to it on annual visit. I carry my children
to it to tench them the hardships endured
by the generation* which have gone befo-o
them. 1 love to dwell on ths tender recol
lections, the kindred ties, the early alfee
tions, and the touch, ng narratives and inci
dents v hicb mingle with all I know of this
primitive family abode.”
With the requisite change of semo the
same words would aptly portray tho early
days of Gnrfield. The poverty of ti.e fron
tier, where all are engaged in a common
straggle m d where a common sympathy
and hearty co-operation lighten tho bur
dens of each, is a very difijrent poverty,
different in kind, different in influence and
effect from that conscious and humiliating
indigence which is every day forced to con
trast itself with neighboring wealth on
•which it feels a sense of grinding dejien
•deuce. The poverty of the frontier is in
deed r.o poverty. It is bnt tbe beginning
of wealth, and has the boundless possibili
ties of tin future always opening before it.
itogp ■in over grew np in the sgricuHura
regions of ‘he West, whore a house r -ising
or even a ctrn husking is a matter of com-
mon interest nnd helpfulness, with any
other fooling th in that of broad-micdeJ,
generous independonoo. This honor-
abls independence m:.rked the youth
of Garfield as it marks the youth oftril ions
of the best blood nnd brain now training for
tho future citizenship and fotnre govern
ment of tbe republic. Garfield w s born
heir to land, to tbe-titleof freeholder which
has been the patent and passport of self-
respect with tho Anglo-Saxon race ever
since Hengist nnd Horsa Jsnded on the
shores of England, His adventure on the
canal—aa c!ter> a ivp betwd a th it ill tbe
deck of a Lake Shore schooner—was a
farmer boy’sdevice for corning money, just
as the New England lad begins a possibly
great ctreer by sailing before the mast on
a eou«ting vessel or on a merchantman
bound to the'farther India or to the China
ilo manly man feels anything of shame
in looking back to early struggles with ad
verse circumstances, and no man fee's a
worthier pride thin when he has conquered
the obstacles to his progress. But no one
of noble mould desires to be looked upon
ns having occupied a menial position, as
having been repressed by a feeling of infe
riority, or h iving suffered the evils of
poverty until relief was found at the hand
of charity. General Garfield s yonth pro-,
tinted no hardsuips which family love and )
family
h;ui
his diploma -v ken twenty-tour jerirs of age,
ho seem*d atfor.e bon ml to spna : ir.t-j ejt-
snicaou* and brillient puoceto. ‘Vitl.iu six
year* hewra sucoessivsly _i«re i lent of *
college, Stnio Sinatur of Oh;o,-m:ij:»r- gen
eral of itoe'Anny ot the United i&aUs, and
Uopresciitotive elect to tho Jiatioaa! Con
gress. A-rombinatiou of hou-jrs so varied,
so elevi't-d, within a period so brief nnd to
a man so young, is without precedent or
parklksM't ihe history of the country.
Garfield's nrrny life was begun with no
othecreilitary knowledge than such as lit.
had fcsstily gaineit from beaks in the few
mouths preceding his tna-cli to the field.
Story.i ng from civil life -to the head of a
regwr.ont, tho first order ho received when
ready to cross the Olio whs to nssurao com
mand of n brigade, and to opr rate us nuirt-
dorendeiit force iu Ei-tr rn Kentucky, rlis
immediate duty was to -check tho advance
oftflninphrey Marshall, who ivaa n-trolling
down Ihe Big Handy with the intention of
occupying m connection with other
Confederate forces the entire furri
er ry of Kentucky, and of precipitat
ing the Stale into secession. This was at
the close of the year Jtsil. Seldom, if aver,
has a young collegepoofessor been thrown
into a more embarrassing nnd discourag
ing position. He kzewjastenongltuC mil
itary s lienee, .s he expressed it hits-elf, to
measure the citeut of his ignoranea, ar.d
with a handful of xsen lie was marching,in
rough winter weather, into a strange coun
try, among a hostile population, to con
front a largely superior force urriir the
command of a distinguished graduate of
-We-t l’uiut, wko bed seen active ned im
portant servico in two preceding wars.
Tho result of the C;utneijga is maltor of
i’.'.-iorv. I il£?~ . ---Vli ex-
' -s*. i* khflar.eil to his met:,
raw atid untried as himself, the measures
he adopted to inoceaso tils force sod to
create in tbs enemy’s mind exaggerated
estimates of his numbers, I koto pt.-fect
fruit in the roiling of .Marshall, the cap-'
tare of hie camp, the dispersion of his force
and the sta u.cipoiion of tut important
territory from tbu control of the rebellion.
Coming at the class ot a long scries et dis
asters to tits Union arms, Gar field’s victory
had an unusual cud extraneousirn pur: ance,
nnd <n tbe pmmlar judgment elevuteil the
yonng commaudcr to the rank of a mili
tary hero. With less than two thon.-c:id
men iu his entire command, with a mob 1-
ized force of only eleven hundred, wi bout
cannon,lie met ;ui nrmy of live thousand ard
defeated them—driving Marshalls forces
successively from two strongholds of tlmr
own selection, furtifie 1 with ubuudaut ar
tillery. Major-General Baeil.cointnaudiug
the bepariment of the Ohio, an experi
enced and able soklierof the regular army,
published an order of thanks and congrat
ulation on the brilliant ri-srit of the Big
Sandy campaign, which would have turned
the head of a less cool mid sensible man
than Garfield. B nil declared that his serv
ices had c tiled in to action lh-> highest y u.iU
ities of a soldier, and Preside..t liiuceln
supplemented ti-efcs words ot praise by the
more substantial reward of a brig«dier-
general's commission, to bear date from
ihe day of his decisive victory over Mar
shall
Tho subsequent military career of Gar
field felly sustained its brilliant begin
mug. rt ith his now com uissioa he was
nssigred to tho command of a brigade in
the army of Ohio, nnd took part iu the
second and decisive day's light in fin great
battleci Shiloh. Tito remainder of tho
year lNj-f was tot espo ially eventful lo
Garfield, a, it was no! to tlie armies witli
which lie was serving. His practical
sense was called into exercise iu c xnple-
ting the task as-igned !i ; m hy General
Buell, of reconstructing bridges nnd re-es
tablishing lines of railway cninnunit- ition
for the army. His occupation in this use
ful but not brilliant field was varied hy
service on courts martial of importance,
ii; which department of duty he won a val
uable reputation, attracting tbe noticeaaid
securing the approval of the
able and eminent Judge- Advoi ate-Gencval
of the ar t y. That of itself was warrant tr
honorable fume: for among the great uicn
who in tho-e trying days gave themselves,
with entire devotion, to the service of their
country, one who brought to tiat service
the ripest learning, tbe most fervid elo
qnence, the most varied attainments, who
labored with tn aleity and shunned ap
plause, who in the day of triumph sat re
serve,, and si'ent and grateful—.-u* Frnncis
l)eak in the honr of Hungary’s deliverance
—was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, who in
his honorable retirement enjoys the respect
and veneration of all who tovo the Union
of the H'ates.
Early in 18C3 Garfield was assigned to tho
highly, important and responsible post of
chief of staff to General Uosocrans, then at
the head of the Army of tho Cuinb-irland
Perhaps in a great military campaign no
subordinate officer requires sonnder judg
ment and quicker knowledge of men titan
tho chief of staff to the commanding gen
oral. An indiscreet man in such a position
can sow more disoord, breed more jealousy
and disseminate more strife than any other
officer in the entire organization. When
General Garfield assumed his new duties
.lie fonnd various troubles already well de
veloped nnd serionsly affecting the value
and efficieney of the Amy of tbe Cumber
land. The energy, the impartiality,
and tho tact with which ho sought to
allay these dissensions, and to discharge
the dntiis of bis new and trying position
will always remain one of the most striking
proofs of his grant versatility. His military
duties closed on the memorable field of
Chicknmangn. n field which however disas
trous to tho Union arms gave to him the
occasion of winning imperi-hnble laurels.
The very rare distinction was accorded him
of a great promotion for his bravery on a
field that was lost. President Lincoln ap
pointed him a major-general in the army
of the United States for gallant and meri
torious conduct in the battle of Chicko-
tnnngo.
The Army of the Cumberland was reor
ganized under the command of General
Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield
one of its divisions. H was extremo'y de
sirous to nccept the po-ition, bnt was em
barrassed by tho fact that ho had, a year
before, been elected to Congress, and the
time when he most take his seat was draw
ing near. He preferred to remain in the
mi'itary service, and had within his own
breast th- largest c- -ntidenco of success in
the wider field which his new rank opened
to him. B dancing the arguments on the
one ride and the other, anxious todeterioiae
what was for ’he best, deairons above all
things to do his patriotic duty, he was de-
eis'.vely influenced by the advice of Presi
dent Lincoln and (secretary Stanton, both
of whom as-nred him that lie could, tut that
time, te of especial value m the House of
Representatives He resigned his com
mission of major-go a eral on the 5th day of
December, 1863, aid took his seat in the
Hob a of Representative* on tbe 7th. He
had served two years and f ou r months in the
army, and had just completed his thirty-
second year.
The Thirty-eighth Congre's is pre-emi
nently eatitled in history to the designa
tion of the W. r Congress. It was elected
whilo the war was flagrant, and every marc
her was chosen upon the issues involved in
the continuance of the straggle. The
Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed, legis
lated to a largo extent on war measure*,
bnt it was chosen befor# anyone believed
that secession of the States would actually
be nttempted. The magnitude of tbe work
which fell upon its successor was unpreco-
oonted, both in respect to the vast sums of
money raised for the support of the army
and navy, and of tho new and extraordina
ry powets cf legislation which it was forc
ed to exercise, t mty twenty-four Stales
were represented, and one bandied and
his seat la Oeagcesa was kept open till the
last moment, so ia'e, indeed, that the res
ignation of Ms military commission and
his xreearsnee in tbs llonse wets almost
canto I'pdroneous. Ho wore the uniform
of a major-general of the United States
army on Saturday, nnd on Monday, in civ-
iltanvi dress, h • onswerod to the roll-call
as n Representativj in Gengre » from the
State of Ohio.
JlCWas especially fortunate in tbe con
stituency which cloeted him. Descended
sitchst entirely from New Borland stock,
the men cf the Ashtabula district were in
tensely radical on a'i questions relating to
1-vman rights. We'd educated, thrifty,
Hi;oron-h'y intelligent in affairs, acatoly
'd-’seeraiug of character, not quick to ho-
s;ow confidence, and slow to withdraw -H,
they were at cnee the most heltfut aud
most exacting of supporters. Tiie'c tena
cious trust ia tuaaiti whom they have cnce
confided is iiinstrated by the nnparaHeled
fact that Elisha Whittlesey, Joshua B.
Gi-Jdiug. and Jatnes A. Garfield represent
ed the district for fifty-four years.
There is no test of a teen’s ability in any
department at public life rao. e sev ere than
serviia in the House of Representative-;
there is no place where so little deference
is paid to reputation previously acquired,
or to eminence won outside; tu> place
where so little consideration is shown for
the fee ingi or the fniluros of beginners.
Whst a man gains in the House he gains by
shier fore; of his own character, nnd if he
loses and falls back he must expect no
in :rey, sad will restive nu-sympathy, i; is
a field in which tho survival of the stroug-
e.-ttho recognized rule, and where no
p-e:ouso can deceivo aui no glamour can
mislead. The real man 4s discovered, his
worth is impnrlini'y weighed, nis rank is
irrevocably decreed.
Wilh.possibly a single exception Garfield
was the youngo-t member -in the House
when he entered, and W03 bnt seien years
from his eollego graduation. But he hail
uot betm in his seat sixty days before his
anility was recogu’Zed and his pln'co eou-
c ded. Ho stepped lo the front with the
confidence of ono who belonged there Tne
Ho ire was crowded with strong tr eu of reviewed,
both parties; nineioen ot them have s-nc-j
been transferred to the Semite, cud many
of-them hive served with distinction in the
gabernatori tl chairs of their respective
States, and on foreign missions of great
consequence; but among them all none
grew so rapidly, none so firmly as Garfield.,
Ac is said hy Toveiyaniif his parli vment a-
ryhoro, Garfield succeeded "because all the
world in concert canid not have kept him.
in the back ground, and because
when once in tho front he played his part
with a prompt intrepidity -ud commanding'
case that were bat the outwrrd symptoms
of the immense r -serves of en» r gy, on
which it-was in his power to draw.” Indeed
tlie apparently reserved force which Gar
field possessed was one of his great charac
teristics. He never did so well but that it
seemed ha coaid easily have done bettor.
He never expanded so much strength but
that he seemed to bo holding .additional
power nt call. Tnis is one of the happiest
.I rl!*4inn(i«vna .rlf nn • tilT -ft’tv.t till*
In thi.vvcspect indeed ho constantly ssr- , said that he fonnl tha Lord’s Prayer and
priseA many who were most intimately as- ■ the simple peti'ions learned in infancy ii-
■sociated with him in the government, and finitely restful to him, not merely in thair
narocia'dr those who hnd feared that ha stated repetition, but iu their casual and
espscia'Jy those who had feared that h9
might be lacking in 1 tie executive faculty.
His disposition of business was orderly and
rapid. His power of analysis, and his skill
in classifiestiou, enabled him to dispatch a
contests from liifij tol868 actually advanoexl vistnuMofdetail with singular promptness
his parliamentary ieadershipuntilCongress 1 and ease. His cabinet meetings were nd-
Itied the Lands of the President and gov- 1 mirnhly conducted, His clear presentn-
■ tion of official subjects, his well considered
suggestion of topics oa which discussion
erned the oonntry by ita own will.Jeavtog
towards
theories
and rarest distinctions-of an-ellcCvvode-.
jbater, and often counts for as much in per
suading an assembly as the eloquent and
elaborate argument.
The great measure of Garfield's fame
was-filled by his servico in the House of
Kcpr-so.atati-.es. His military life, illus
trated by hummable performance, and ric'-
in promise, was. ai he himself felt, prema
turely terrain a'.t-d, and necessarily incom
plete. r-peculatiou as to whnt he might
have cone in a field, whore tho great prizes
are so few, cannot be profitable. It is suf
ficient to s.ty that a s a soldier, ho did his
duty bravely ; ho did it intelligently ; he
won an env'abio f irae, and he retired front
tho service without blot or breath against
him. As a lawyer, though admirably
equinped for the profession, he can scarce
ly be said to lgi’-o entered on its practice
The few efforts he mode at the bar were
distinguished by tbe same high or
der of talent which be exhibited on every
fiat . where ho was pat to the test, and .if a
inau iiiiij bo accepted ala c-uoiieteut j idge
of his ovii capacities and adaptations, the
r nw was tho profession to which Garfield
should have devoted himrelf. Bnt fate or-
ciaiuedotrerwise, and his reputation in his
tory will rest largely upon his service in
the House of Representatives. That ser
vice was exceptionally long. He was nine
times consecutively chosen to tho hou-e,an
honor enjoyed by not more than six other
Represent itives of tho more than live thou
sand who hav» been elected from the or
ganization of the government to this hour.
As a parliamentary orator, as a debater
on an i-sue squarely joined,where <be posi
tion had been chosen and 'ho ground laid
out. Garfield must be assigned a very high
rank. More, perhaps, than any inau with
whom ho was associated iu public life, he
gave careful anil systematic study to pub
lic questions, and he came to every discus
sion in which he took part, with elaborate
and complete preparation. Ho was n
steady and indefatigable worker. These
who imagine that talent or g-.*nins can sup
ply the place or achieve the result* of labor
will find no encouragement in Garfield's
life. In preliminary work lie was apt, rap
id and skillful, lie possessed in a high de
gree tfco power of readily absorbing ideas
nnd f acts, and like A*r. Johnson, iiad the
art of getting from a book all that was
of value in it by a reading
apparently so quick and cursory
that it seemed like a mere glance ::t
tho table al contents. Ho was a pre-emi
nently fair and eand-d man in debate, took
no potty advantage, stojpx.d to no unwor
thy method--, avoided personal allusions,
rarely appealed to prejudice, did not seek
to inflame passion, lle had a quicker t ye
for the strong point of his adversary than
for his weak point, and ou .his own side he
so marshaled iris weighty arguments as to
make his hoartrs forget any possible la-b
in the complete strength of his position.
Ilo had a habit of stating his opponent’s
side witii such amplitude of fairness and
auub liberality ofxioncession that his fol
lowers often complained that he arcs giv
ing his case away. But never in his pro
longed participation in the proe -odious of
the House did he giye his caso away, or fail
in the judgment of competent and impar
tial listeners, to gain the mastery.
These characteristics, whicn tcarkedGar-
fiold ns a great deba'er, did not, however,
make him a great parliamentary loader. A .
parliamentary leader, as that term is un
derstood wherever free representative gov
ernment exists, is necessarily nnd very
strictly the organ of his party. An ardent
American defined the instinctive warmth
of patriotism when he offered tha toast,
will do and dara and die for the cause, is
one who beltmes his party always right,
bat right or wrong, is for his party. No
more important or exacting duty devolves
upon him than the selection of tho field
and tho time for contest. He must know
not merely how to strike, but where to
strike nnd when to. strike. He often
skillfully avoids the strength of his op
ponent’s position and scatters confusion
in his ranks *by attacking an exposed
point when really the righteousness of
the cause and the strength of
logic d intrsnehment are against him- He
conquers often both against the right and
heavy battalions; as when young Charles
Fox, in the days of bis toryism, carried the
House of Commons against justice, against
its immemorial rights, nga:n*t Ins own
convictions, if, indeed, nt th-.t jieriol Fox
had convictions, and, in tho interest of a
corrupt administration, in opedienoo to a
tyrannical sovereign, drove Wilkes from
the seat to which the electors of Middlesex
had chosen him nnd installed Luttrell in
d -fiance, not merely of law but of public
decency. For on achievement of that kind
Garfield was disqualified—di-'qua'ihod by
the texture of his mind, by tho honesty of
it's heart, by his conscience, and hy every
instinct and aspiration of his nature.
Tho three most distin-ptis'-od pnrliamep-
tary leaders hitherto developed in this conn-
try are Mr. Clay, Mr. Dongles and Mr.
ThaddoriB Stevens. Each was a man of
consnmmnte ability, of great earnestness,
of intense personality, differing widely,
each from the others, and yet with a signal
trait in common—the power to command.
In the give and take of daily discussion,
in the art of controlling and consolidat
ing reluctant and refractory followers; in
the skill to overcome all foras of opposi
tion, and to meet witji competency and
conrage the varying phases of tmlookod for
assault or unsuspected defection, it would
be difficult to rank with these a fourth
name in all onr Congressional history.
Bat of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It
wonld, perhaps, be impossible to find in
parliamentary annals of the world a paral
lel to Mr. Clay, in 1841, when at sixty-fonr
years of age no took the control ol the
Whig party from the President who hn-i re
ceived their snflrages, aga’nst the power
of Webster in the cabinet, against
tho eloquence of Choito in tha
Senate, against tho Horculean efforts
of Caleb Cashing and Henry A. Wise
in the Honse. Iu nnshared leadership, in
the pride and rlenti'ndeof power he bnrled
only ;«rt*nctory duties to bo dit
by the executive. With two hundred mill
ions cf patrouogoin his hands at the open
ing of Ihe contest, aided hy tha active force
ot (toward in the cabinet end the moral
power of Chase im the bench, Andrew John
son could not command the support of one-
third in cither House against the parjia-
wenla*y uprising of which Thaddeus Ste
vens was the animating spirit and tho un
questioned leader.
From these three groat men Garfield dif
fered radically, differed in tbs quality of
his mind, in temperament, in the form and
phase of ambition. He coil'd not do what
they diJ. bnt he could do what they could
not; and in the breadth of his Corgression-
at work l:e left that which will lonrer
exert a potential influence among men.
ami which, measured hy the severe test of
p9*Uhatnoa* criticism,will secure a more en-
dnrinz and more enviable fame.
Those unfamiliar with Garfield's indus
try. .uid ignorant of the details of his
work, may, in some degree, measure them
by the annals of Congress. No one of the
generation of public men to which he be
longed has eon tribnteJ ro much that will
be vain rifle for future reference. His
speeches are numerous, many of them bril
liant, nil of ih-iu well studied, carefully
phraz-.-d, and exhaustive of the subject un
der consideration. Collected from die
scattered pages of ninety royal octavo vcl-
uuii-s of Congressional Ks-.-orU, they would
present an invaluable compendium of the
political history of the most important er,.
through which the national government
has ever pissed. When the history ot this
prrioil shall be impartially written, when
war legislation, mea-ures of reconstruc
tion, protection cf human rights, amend
ments to tiie constitution, mainten
ance of the public credit, steps
specie resumption, true
of revenue may _ be
F nusn-ronnded by prejudice
and disconnected from partisanism, tho
speeches of Garfield will bo estimated at
tnuir true value, und will be found to com
prise a vast magazine of fact and argu
ment, of clear analysis nnd sound couolu-
•sion. Indeed, if no other authority were
accessible, his speeches iu the House of
Representatives from December, 18C3, to
June, 18S0, would give a well connected his
tory and complete defense of tho important
legislation of the seventeen eveutfal years
that constitute his eventful life. Far be
yond that, his speeches would be found to
forecast many great measures, yet to bo
completed—measures which he know wore
beyond the pnblio opinion of the hour, hut
whioti he confidently bolioved would secure
popuhir approval within the period of his
ary a lifetime, and by the aid of his own ef
forts.
Differing, as Garfield dues, from the
brilliant Parliamentary leader*, it is not
easy to find his counterpart anywhere in
the record of American public life. He
perhaps more nearly resembles Mr. Seward
in his supremo faith in the all conquering
powerof a principle. He.had tho lovo of
learning and the patient industry of inves
tigation to which John Quincy Adams owes
his prominence and his Presidency. He
had pome of those ponderous elements of
mind which distinguished Mr. Webster,
and which, indeed, in ail our public life
have left tho great Massachusetts Senator
without an intellectual peer.
In the English parliamentary h’story, as
in our own, tho leaders in the House of
Commons present points of essential differ-
onre from Garfield. But some of his meth
ods recall the best features ia the strong,
independent course of Sir Robert Peel, und
striking resemblances are discernible in
that most promising of modern conserva
tives, who died to yearly for his country nnd
his fame, the l<ord George Beulinok. He
had all of Burke’s love for the subhtno and
the beautiful, with, possibly, something of
his superabundance; and iu his faith and his
magnanimity, in his power of statement,
in his subtle analysis, in his faultless logic,
in his love of li:trature,.in his wealth mid
world of illustration, one is reminded of
that great Englishstntesman of to day,who
outro-itcl with obstacles that would daunt
any but tho dauntless, reviled by those
whom he would relieve as bitter'y as by
thofte whose supposed rights hd is forced t'i
invade, still labors with serene courage for
the .'melioration of Irelnud, and for the
honor of the English name.
Garfield’s nomination to the Presidency,
while not predicted or anticipated, was not
a sarprisa lo thecountry. His prominence
in Congtess, his solid qualities, hi.s wide
reputation, strengthened by his then recent
election as Senator from Ohio, kept him i*i
the public eye as n man occupying the wry
highest rank among those entitled to be
cal ed state-men. It was not more chance
that brought him this high honor. “V\o
must,"says Mr. Emerson, "reckon eucccss
a constitutional trait. If Eric is iu robust
health and has slept well and is at .the top
of his condition, und thirty yeurs old at liis
departure from Greenland, he will steer
west and his ships will reach New Pound-
land. Bat take Eric out and put in a
stronger.a:;d bolder man and the ships will
sail six hundred, one thousand, fifteen hun
dred tniles fartner and reach Labrador
aud New England. There is no chance in
results.”
As a candidate; Gnrflcld steadily grew in
popular favor. He mot witii a storm of
detraction at tho vorj hour of his nomina
tion, and it continued with increasing vol
ume nud momentum until the close of his
victorious campaign.:
No might nor greatness tn mortnlity
ttui censure 'scape; backvouudiug calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. Whnt king so strong
ran tie the gull VP ifi the slanderous tongue?
Under it all he was calm nnd strong, and
confident; never lost his self-possession,
did no unwise act. spoke no hasty, or ill-
considered word. Indeed nothing in his
who'e life is more remarkable or more
creditable than his hearing through those
five full months of vituperation—s pro-
1-nged agony of trial to a sensitive man, a
constant -nd cruel draft upon the powers
of moral endnrance. The great mass ol
these unjust imputations passed unnoticed,
and with tho general debris of tho cam
paign felt into obliyion. Bat in n few in
stances tbe iron entered bis soul and he
died with tho injury unforgotten if not un
forgiven.
One aspect of Garfield’s candidacy was
unprecedented. Never before, in tbe his
tory of partisan contests jn this country,
hail a successful presidential candidate
spoken freely on psssinz events and cur
rent issues. To attempt anything of thb
kind seemed novel, rash, and even despe
rate. The older class of voters recalled the
unfortot ate Alabama letter, in which Mr.
Clay was supposed to liavo signed his po
litical death warrant. They rotcembere l
also the kot-texpered enu-iou by which
General Scott lost a large share of his pop
ularity before his nomination, and the on-
fortunate speeches which rapidly consumod
tho remainder. The younger voters had
seen Mr. Greeley in aseriesJof vigorous and
original addresses, preparing tho pathway
for his own defeat. Unmindful of these
warnings, unheeding th* advice
of friends, Garfield spoke to large
crowds as he journeyed to nnd from New
York in August, to a great multitude iu
that city, to delegations and deputations of
every kind that called at Mentor during
tho summer aud autumn. With innumera
ble critics, watchtul and eager to catch a
phrase that might bo turned
into odium or ridicule, or a sentence that
might be di-torted to his own or his party’s
injury, Garfield did not trip or halt :n any
ono of his seventy speeches. This seems
all tbe more remarkable when it is remem
bered th.‘.t he did Dot writo what ho said,
ani yet spoke with snch logical conteca-
t.ver.Lvs of thought nnd such admirable
precision of phrase as to de f y tho accident
of misreport and the ma'ignity of misrep
resentation.
In tbe beginning of hi* presidential life,
Garfie'd’s experience did not yield him
pleasaro or satisfaction. The duties that
engross so large a portion of the Presi
dent’s time were distasteful to him, and
were unfavorably contrasted with bis legis
lative work. "I nave been dealing all these
years witii ideas,” he impatiently ex?iaimed
one day, "add here I am dealing only wi h
persons. I h.avo been heretofore treating
of the fundamental principles of govern
ment, and here I am considering all day
whether A or B shall be app-iuted (o this
or that office.” He wa* earnestly seeking
some practical wuy ot correcting tho evils
arising from the distribution of overgrown
and unwieldy patronage—evils always ap
preciated nud often discu«sod by hint, bnt
whose magnitude had been more deeply
impressed upon his mind since his acces
sion to the presidency. Had he lived, n
comprehensive improvement in the inoio
of puointment nnd in the tonnrt of office
wonld have been proposed by him, aud
with the aid of Congress no doubt per
fected.
Bnt, while many of tho executive duties
were not grateful to him, be wasasriduaus
and conscientious in their discharge. From
the very outset he exhibited administrative
wluelrwere recalled w?th delig^ih^d^rans- admiration f
S& wdh pTo jSffith prWe. ability, and with that sk : ij which ccmes lines of hU political foes- Mr. Poesies helm of office with the hand of # master,
—as invited, his quick decision when all
had been h ard, conibired to show a thor
oughness of mtctnl training as rare as his
naturaUffflliiy and hi* facile adaptation to
a new aTiae> lar.-e-l field of labor.
With perfect comprehension of all the
inheritances of Ihe war, with a cool calcu
lation of the obstacles in his way, impelled
always by u generous enthusiasm, Garfield
conceived that much might be done by his
administration towards res'ering harmony
between the different sections of the Union.
He was anx ous to go South and speak to
the people. As early ss April he had inef-
feetually endeavored to arrange for a trip
to Nashville, whither he had been cordially
invited, and he waa again disappointed a
fow weeks later to find that ha could not go
to South Carolina to attend tho centennial
celebration of the v ctcry of Ihs Oowpens.
But for the autumn lie definitely counted
ou being present at three memorable as
semblies in the South, the celebration at
Yorktown, tbe opening of the Cotton
Exposition at Atlanta, and the meeting of
tho army of the Cumberland at Chattanoo
ga, Ho was already turning over in his
mi ud his address for each occasion, nnd
tiie three taken together, he said to a friend,
g.ivu him the exact scope and verge which
lie needed. At Yorktown he would have
before him the associations of a hundred
years that boaud tha South and tho North
in the sacred memory of a common dangar
and a oomtnm victory. At Atlanta ho
would preient-tha material interests and
the industrial development which appealed
to the thrift and independence of every
household, and wlr'ch should unite tho two
suctions by the instinct of self-
interest and self-defense. At Chat
tanooga he would revive memo
ries of the war only to show
that after all its disaster and Jill its suffer
ing, the country was stronger nnd greater,
the U-.ion rendered indissoluble, and the
future, through the agony and blood of
one generation, made brighter and better
for all.
Garfield’s ambition for the success of h ! s
administration was high. With strong
caution and conservatism in his nature, he
was in no danger of attempting rash ex
periments or of iesortiug to the empiri
cism of statesmanship. But he be
lieved that renewed nnd closer at
tention shou’d bo giten to ques
tions affecting tho material inter
ests and commsrcial prospects of fifty mil
lion* of poaple. He believed that our con
tinental relations, extensive aud undevel
oped as they are, involved responsibility,
and could be cultivated into profitab o
friendship or be abandoned to harmful in
difference or lasting enmity- He believed
with equal confidence that an essential
forerunner to a new ora of national pro
gress must be n feeling of contentment in
every section of the Union, and a generous
belief that the benefits aud burdens of
S ivernmeut would bo common to all.
im*elf a o-nspicuous illustration of what
ability f.rnl ambition may do under repub
lican institutions, he loved his country
with a passion of patriotic devotion, a'.d
every waking thought was given to her ad
vancement. He was an American in all
his aspirations, aud its looked to the destiuy
and influence of the United States with the
philosophic composure of Jefferson nnd
the deinonrirntive confidence of Jonu
Adams. '
Thu political event3 which disturbed the
President’s serenity for many weeks be
fore that fateful day in July, form an im
portant chapter in his career, and, in his own
judgment, involved questions of principle
and of riyh which are vitally essential to
the const i'.nrional administration of the
Federal government. It would be out of
place hero nud now to *peak the language
of controversy; but the events refetred to,
however they may continue to bo source of
controversy with others, have become, so
far as Garfield is concerned, as mnch a
matter of history as his heroism at Unicka-
mnuga or his illustrious service in ‘the
House. Detail is not needful, nnd person
al antagonism shall not lie rekindled by any
word nl.eped to-day. The motives of those
opposing him are not to be here adversely in-
torpretid nor their coarse harshly char.ac
tettzed. Bat of tho dead President this is
to be said, and said because his own speech
is forever silenced and he c <n be no more
heard except tbrongh the fidelity and lcve
of surviving friend*: From the beginning
to the end of the controversy he s* much
deplored, the President was never for one
moment actuated by any motive of gain to
himself or of less to others. Least of all
men did ho harbor revenge, rarely did he
even show resentment, and maln-e wns not
in his nature. He was congenially em
ployed only in the exchange of good offices
and the doing of kindly deeds.
There was not an hour, from the begin
ning of tho tronb'o till the fatal shot en
tered his bony, when tho President would
not g'.adiy, for tha sake of restoring har
mony. have retraced any step he h-sd taken
if such retracing had merely involved con
sequences personal to himself. The pride
of consistenc, or nay supposed sense of
humiliation that might result from surren
dering his position, had not a feather’s
weight with him. No man was ever less
subject to such influences from within or
from without. Bnt after most anxious de
liberation and tho coolest survey of
all the circumstances, ho solemnly
believed that the true prerogatives of the
executive were involved ia tho issue which
lmd been raised, aud that he would be un
faithful to his saVreme obligation if he
failed to maintain, in all the-r vigor, the
constitutional rights nud dignities of his
great office. H* believed this in all the
convictions of conscience when in sound
and vigorous health, and he believed it in
his suffering nnd prostration in the last
conscious thought which hi* wearied mind
bestowed on the transitory struggles of
life.
More than this need not be snid. Loss
than thi- could not be said. Justice to the
dead, the highest obligation that devolve:
upon tho living, demands the declaration
that in ail the benrinvs of theenbject, actu
al or possible, the President was content in
his mini, justified in his conscience, im
movable in his conclusions.
The religions element in Garfield’s char
actor was deep and earnest. In his early
youth be espoused the faith of the Disci
pie*, a sect of that great Baptist C-ommun
iou, which in different ecclesiastical estab-
iismo-'ts is so numerous and so in
fluential throughout all parts of the
United States. But the broad
ening tcudeucy of his mind and
his active spirit of inquiry wore early np
parent and carried him beyond the dog
mas of sect and tbe restraints of associa
tion. Id selecting a college iu which to
coutiuue his education he rejected Betha
ny, though presided over by Alexander
Campbell, tbe greatest preacher ot his
church. His reasons were characteristic
first, that Bitbany leaned too neavily
toward slavery ; and second, that being
him<elf a Disoiplo and tho son of Disei' le
parents, ho bad little acquaintance with
people of other beliefs end he thought it
wonld make him more liberal, quoting his
own words, both in his religious nnd gener
al views, to go into a now circle and be un
der now influences.
The liberal tendency which lie ontieipit-
ed as the result of w.der culture w-.s fully
realized. Hu was emancipated from mere
sector an belief, nnd with eager interest
pushed his investigations in the direction
of modern progressive thought. Ho fol
low d with quickening step in the paths of
oxploration and speculation bo fearlessly
trodden hy Darwin, by Huxley, by Tinda'l,
and by other living sciont-sta of the radical
nnd advanced type. His own church, bin fl
ing its disciples by no formulated creed,
bat accepting tuo Old and New Testaments
as ths word of God, with unbiased liberty
of private interpretation, favored, if it did
not stimulate the spirit of investigation.
Its members profess with sincerity, and
profess only, to bo of one mind and one
faith with those who immediately followed
the Master, on 1 who were first called Chris
tians at Antioch.
• Bat however high Garfi-. ld reasoned of
“fixed fate, f»ee will, foreknowledge ab
solute,” he wa3 never separated from the
Church of the Disciples iu his affections
ami in his associutioas. For him it held
the art of the eon n -nt. To him it was the
f iats of heaven. The world of religious be-
iuf is fall of solecism* nnd contradictions.
A philosophic ob-erver declares that men
hy the thousand will die in defense of a
creed whoso doctrin-.s they do not compre
hend and whose tenets the: habitually vio
late. It is equally true that men by the
tho iM}nd will cling to church organizations
with instinctive au-i undying fidelity when
their belief in matur-r )W is-radically
diff irtui hum that which inspired them ts
neophj tes.
Bnt after this range of speculation, nnd
this latitude of donbt, Garfield c into back
always with fre line.*.* und delight to the
simpler instincts of religions faith, which
earliest implanted, longest snrrive. Not
many weeks before bis assassination, walk
ing on the banks of the Potomac with a
friend, and conversing on those topics of
personal religion, concerning which noble
patareg iiarp an nnconqntrtble reserve,
frequent recall as be went about Uie daily
duties of life. Certain texts of scriptures
had a very strong hold on his memory aud
his heart. He heard, while in Ediuburgh
some years ago,:ui eminent hootch preacher
who prefaced his sermon with reading the
eighth chapter of the Epistle to the
Uomans, which book had been the subject
of careful study with Garfield daring all his
religions life. He wns greatly impressed
by the elocution of the preacher cud de
clared that it lmd imparted a new and
deeper meaning to the utterances of Saint
Paul. He referred often in after years to
that memorable service, and dwelt with ex
altation of feeling open the r tdinrt prom
ise and tho assured hope with which the
great apoatie of the Gentiles was “persuad
ed that neither death, nor life, vor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to oorne, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be
able to separate ns from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The crowuiuz characteristic of General
Garfield's religious opinions, up. indeed, of
nil his opinions, was ids liberality. In all
tilings he hnd charit}. Tolerance was of
hit nature. He respected in others Uie
qualities which ho posseted h’tnself—sin
cerity of conviction and fronknes* of ex
pression. With him the inquiry was not
so much what a man believe*, but does he
believe it? The lines of bis friendship nod
his confidence encircled uten of every creed,
nu 1 men of no creed, nnd to the end of his
life, on his ovtr-lougtheumg list of friends,
were to be fonnd tho names of a pious
Catholic piiesl and of an honest-ini'ded
and generous-hearted free-thinker.
On the morning of Saturdu}, July second,
the President was a c mtented anil htippy
inau—not iu au ordinary degree, but joy
fully, almost boyishly happy. t)n hj» way
to tiiorui : road station to which he drovo
slowly, in conscious enjoyment of the bean-
tiful morning, witii au unwonted sense of
leisure nnd a keen anticipation of pleasure,
his talk was all in the grateful aud gintula-
tory vein. He felt that after four months
of trial his administration wis strong in its
grasp of affairs, strong in popular favor and
and destined to grow stronger: that grave
difficulties confronting him at i is in n :ura
tion had been safely passed; that trouble lay
behind him end not before him: that he was
soon to meet the wife whom ho loved, now
recovering from nn illness which had but
lately disquieted and at times almost un
nerved him; that he was going to his Alma
Mater to renew the most cherished asso
ciations of his yonng manhood, aud to ex
change greetings with those whose deepen
ing interest had followed every step of his
upward progress from the day he entered
upon his college courso until ho hud at
tained the loftiest elevatiou in the gift of
h's countrymen.
Surely if happiness can ever come from
the honors or trimnuhs of t'fls world, ou
that quiet July morning James A. Gar
field may well itavo been a happy man. No
foruboaingsof evil haunted him; no slight
est premonition of danger clouded his sky.
His terrible fate was npon him iu au iu-
stant. One moment he stood erect, strong,
confident in 'he years stretching peacefully
ont before hiot. The next he lay sounded,
bleeding, helpless, doomed to weary weeks
of torture, to silence, and the grave.
Great in life, he waa surpassingly great
in death. For no cause, in the very frenzy
of wantounes* und wickhdncss, by the red
hand of murder, he was thrust from the
fall tide of this world’s interest, from its
hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into th9
vi-ible presence of death—aud -ho did not
quail. Not alone for the one short moment
in which, stnuned nnd dazed, he could give
np life, hardly aware ot its relinquish
ment,' but through days of deadly languor,
1 hrongli weeks of agony, that was no less
agony because silently borne, with clear
sight and calm courage, he looked into
his open grave. What blight and rain
met his languished eyes, whose
lips may ,teli—what brilliant, broken
pans, wliit b.iffijd, hign umbilicus,
what sundering of string, warm, man
hood’s friendship*, what hitler reading of
sweot home lin'd lies. Behind nim a pre ud.
exp* clan', nation, a great hast of sit -tam
ing friends, a cherished and happy mother,
wearing the full, rich honors of her early
toil end tears; tho wite of his youth, whose
whole life lay ia hi*; the little boys not yet
emerged from childhood’s day of frolic
the fair, young daughter; the sturdy sons
jest springing into closest compai-iotship,
claim ng every day aud every day reward
ing a father’s love and care; aud in his
heart tho eager, rejoicing power to meet
all demands. Before him. desolation
aud great uarkuess! And his soul wa*
not shaken. His countr, men were thrilled
with instant, profound and universal sym
pathy. Ma*terfuiin hi* mortal weakness
he became th9 center of a nation’s love,
enshrined ia th** prayers of a world. Bat
all the lovs and nil the sympathy could not
share with him his suffering. He trod tbe
wine-press clone. With unfaltering f.-ont
he faced death. With unf tiling ton Jeruess
he took leave of life. Above tho demoniac
hiss of tho assassin’s bullet ho heard the
voice of God. W.th simple resignation ha
bowed to the Divine decree.
As the end drew near, his early craving
for the sea returned. Ths stately mansion
of power had i>eeu to him tho wearisome
hospital of pain, aud he begged to be taken
from its prison walls, from its oppressive,
stifling nir, from its homel*s.*ness and its
helplo->nes*. Uentl.r, silently, the love of
a great people bore the pale sufferer to the
longed-lor healing of the sea, to live or to
die, as G'd should will, withiu sight of its
heaving billows, withiu so-nd of its mani
fold voice.*. Witii wan, fevered face ten
derly lifted to the cooling breeze, he
locked ou*. wistfully upon the ocean’s
changing wonders; on its far s-tiis,
whitening in the morning light; on itsiest-
'e.-s wave*, rolling shorewa’d to bra :k nud
din beneath the noonday sun; on the red
cloud* of evening, arching low to the hori
zon; ou the sereno nnd eliitiirg pathway of
the stars. Let as think that hts dy ing eyes
read a inystio meaning which only the rapt
and parting soul may know- Lot ns be
lieve that in the silence of the rece ling
world he heard the great waves breaking
on a further shore, nud felt already upon
his wasted brow the breath of the eternal
morning.
The address was concluded at 1:50, hav
ing taken just one hour and a half in its
delivery. As Blaine gave utterance to
the last solemn words, the spectators
brake into a storm of applause, which was
not bushed far some moments. The ad
dress was listened to with intense in
terest and solemn silence, uubrokuti by
any sound except by a sigh of relief (such
as arises from a large audience when
strong tension is removed from their
minds) when the orator passed from his
allusion to the differences existing in the
Republican parly last spring. Tbe bene
diction was then offered by Rev. Dr. Bill-
lock, chaplain of the Seita;e. The marine
baud played the Garfield dead march as
the invited guests filed out of the chamber
in the same order in which they had en
tered it The Senate was the last to leave
and then the House was called to oid:r
by tha Speaker.
Mr. McKinley, of Ohio, offered a reso
lution of thanks to Mr. Blaine for the
masterly address, which was unanimously
adopted, and then the House adjourned.
The Senate was only nominally in ses
sion to-day, as it proceeded to the hall of
ths House of Representatives Immediately
after assembling at noon, and upon its
return from the memorial services at 2
p. m. adjourned.
Washing ray, February 28 —In the
Senate, Mr. Windorn, from tiie committee
**n foreign relations, reported an original
resolution, instructing that committee lo
inquire into all the circumstances con.
ccming the alleged loss of leltets from the
Department of State, and tho alleged ac
tion of the diplomatic representatives of
the United States to tbe republics of
France aud Fern, it being charged that
they wore personally conc'-meu tti con
tracts, etc. The subject went over ono
day under tbe ruh-s.
The post-office appropriation bill was
received from tho House and referred to
the comrai.’eo on appropriations. Upon
the close of tbe morning hour tlio (,’kineso
bill catne up as unfinished business, but
Mr. Miller, of Califuma, iu charge or the
hill, temporarily yielded the 11-ior to Mr.
Ferry, upou au urgent appeal of the latter
to allow the House post route bill to be
considered. Mr. Ferry said immediate ac
tion ou tbe bill was necessary in order that
new routes rai^lil be included iu tbe sprh’K
lettings. The post roulo bill was the:
proceeded with, and the amendments i f
the iiena'e committee read aud agreed to.
No appropriation Is contained in the bill.
Tbe sections as amended were adopted,
and the bill passed.
The Honse resolution tendering thanks
to lion. J. G. Blame for tho appropriate 1
address delivered by him ;n the Garfirid :
memorial exercises \vcre,onni'.t ! o:iof Mr. j
Sherman, taken from the presldeut’s tab’o '
aud C.wsoiri IU*
Tbe Senate Insisted upon its amend
ments to the immediate deficiency appro
priation bill, aud Messrs. Allison, Plumb
aud Beck were appointed conferees.
The Senate then, at 2:30, took up the
Chinese Immigration bill, to carry into
effect the treaty b> suspending ibo com-
ng uf Chinese laborers ior twenty years
after tixty days succeeding tbe passage of
the act.
Mr. Miller, of California, who intro
duced aud reported the bill, proceeded
directly to the discussion of the merits of
the measure, leaving tho amendment for
future consideration. During Mr. Miller’s
speech the habitues of the galleries were
astonished hy the appearance in tbe diplo
matic gallery of four members of the
Cbirese legation. Being strangers they
had been signt-seelng a’, the Capitol, and
their visit 'was not prearranged. Upon
being apprised of the subject under d's
cussluit, they Immediately retired.
Mr. Miller concluded at 4*05, after
speaking for one hour aud forty minutes,
The bill was infotmally laid aside to per
mit action on the House bill to furnish
impressions of the card of invitation to
the Garfield memorial service, which was
passed.
The Senate at 4:15 went into executive
session, and at 4:25 adjourned.
HOUSE.
Mr. Gibson, of Louisiana, introduced
joint resolution for the appointment of a
committee of sixteen members, seven
from the Senate and nine front tiie House,
to attend tbe celebration of the 200th ati
niversiry ol tiie discovery of the mouth of
the Misrisslppi river by La Saile, to he
held iu New Orleans ou the 9th of April,
1882. Referred to committee on rules.
He also presented a'meraorial of the Gov
ernor and Legislature of Ireuisiaua on the
subject, and it received similar reference.
Mr. Kelly, of Pennsylvania, chairman
of the committee on wavs and means, re
ported the bill repealing tiie discriminat
ing duties ou tea and coffee, the products
of the possessions of the Netherlands.
Passed.
Ou motion of Mr. Reagan, of Texas, Ihe
Senate bill appropriating $1CO,'JOO fo-
contimiing the improvement of'Ga'res-
ton harbor was taken fiont the Speaker's
table and passed.
Mr. Qiscock, chairman of the commit
tee on appropriations, reported back the
immediate deficiency bill with the Senate
amendments, recommending concurrence
in some ami tion-couciirrenoe in others of
those atn-ndmeius. The rep rt was
agreed to.
Mr. Calkins, of Indiana, chairman of
tha committee ou elections, submitted tbe
repoit of that committee ou the contested
elec ion case of Campbell vs. Cannon, ac
companied by a resolution declaring that
neither the contestant nor couteslce is cn-
till>nl to a seat on the floor. He also sub-
milted a minority report declaring Camp
bell entitled to a sear, while Moulton, of
Illinois, submitted a further resolution
signed hy Atherton and n*rir
Moulton and
that Caution
gate to Congress. The report was laid on
the table tor future action.
The llniue at 1:40 went into commit
tee of the whole, Mr. McCook,, of New
York, in the chair, on the military acade
my appropriation bill. It appropriates
$318,657.
Speaking to a'formal amendment, Mr.
Atkins, of Tennessee, entered upon a per
sonal explanation regarding the attack
upon liiimelf and several other members
in tho columns of the New York Times.
Every other member named a!s > relieved
his mind on the subject. A tier consider
able time bail been thus consumed, Mr.
Blackburn called attention to tbe bill un
der consideration, aud on his motion an
mnen'inieiit was adopted appropriatiti
$10,000 lor astronomical instruments to
equip the new ob:ervatory at the acade
my. Tne committee then rose aud re-
po-ted the hill to the House, when it was
passed-
Mr. Robinson, of New York, (by rc-
quisi) introduced a bill to ergantze the
National Labor-League Railway Compa
ny of America, for the purpose of con
structing, operating and maintaining a
railway from the' Atlantic seaboard
to Chicago, St. Louis aud Couucil
Bluffs. I*, provides, for the purpose of
establishing equal rights iu commerce
among the Stales, aud for the purpose of
securing a railway highway under such
civil control as to prevent combinations
agtinst the public good, a commission
uiuler the name of the National Board of
Inter-State Transportation. In the list of
names appear the following: Francs II.
Thurber, Titos. Kiusella, A. B. Mullett,
J. II. Eclesine, J. Pope Hod: e t, Nicholas
Miller and Wiu. U. Grace, who, with
thair colleagues, are authorized to carry
out the purposes of this act hy determin
ing upon the terminal p ints of the road
to be constructed, and to issue a capital
stock to the exteut of $10,009,003. It fur-
th jr provides that when the ro ;il shall have
been const meted to Counci 1 Bluff* it may
b i continued to San Francisco, a .id in aid of
its construction grants to it every alter-
uale section of unoccupied public lands
through whiclt it utay pass for fifty miles
on each side oftiii irtek. Iu order lo
relieve the wauts of labor, depressed by
the contraction of the currency, wo. kmen
employed in building the railroad shall
be paid by the government $1 a day, and
the remainder ot his wsges iu cortificutcs
of indebtedness, receivable iu 3 G5 per
ceut. bonds. The bill was referred.
The Speaker announced Messrs. Ilis-
eo:k, Robeson and Cox as the Uouso con
ferees on the immediate deficiency hill.
Adjourned.
Washington, February 23.—The
Senate confirmed James It. jolly, collec
tor of customs for the district of tbe
Teche, La , Christopher J. Terrell, post
master at Terrell, Texes.
The decrease of the public debt for the
montliof February will be about $9,000,000
being about $2,000,000 less than the av
erage decrease since June last. Tbe fall
ing off is due to the heavy payments made
during February, one item of whiclt was
about $9,000,000 on accou t of pensions.
The comptroller of the currency li«s au
thorized the first National Bank of Co
lumbus, Mississippi to commence busi
ness with a capital ol $80,000.
Iu tbe Senate executive session to-day,
the nominations of Messrs. Conkling and
Sargent were reported favo-ably from the
committees and were placed ou the calen-
dar, under the rule which requires all re
ported nominations to lie 'o7cr until the
next executive session. No request was
made for tbe suspension of the rule, and
nothing was said about the uomluations
beyma the formal report from the com
mittee.
which the resolution introduced hy iw»-
solf referred, aud the one wIiLk he con
sidered m. st important, is whether or mat
tbe intervention of the Unite1 Statcete
Hie affairs of neutral gverwuenuhal teew
implied !y or expressly understoo.1. Ti.-c^
he said, was the danger. Tho war-making
power was in tiie Congieas, aud it war
to the Scuats of the greatest moment that
there should he tio Implication ot thisgreM-
power hy way nf media tan hy auv »dt-
vi.lual or in any manner o>ber than ia
accordance with a grave execution of iu
power* under tiie constitution. Uetletw-
fore moved to amend l>y adding as a .spe
cific subject of inquiry the f.fllocinji
Whether any promise or stipulation fcp
whiclt intervention by the United States
iu the controversies existing hriwoew
Chili and Ptru, or Chili and Bolivia, hew
been expressly or impliedly given by up
person cr persons officially conneeted-wiCh
the govcrtiuier.t of the United hiatus, or
whether its influence has been in any way
exerted, prom*id or intimated in owiiaee-
llon witii or relation to said c.-minifls hy
any one officially connect'd with tin} (sv-
erumcni of the United Mates.
Messrs. Wiiidum aud E lm:nid ; esplwh*-
ed that the language replied by ll:! (wa
in i lice bad beet: carefully chosen, so ac
to make the itiqui y io full that no posa
ble circumstance iff-cting tiio V.aiaf
States could escape. Therefore tv lac
not been liiuituil to any apicifc i.sutor.
They had not auy objectin'!* is tins
aiuendutvut, if tlio Senator, Mr. Gtysrei,
[thought it uecessary. Mr. Bayard L stat
ed upon his motion, and Iris aiuentinsenl
prevailed w illiout objection. The n vla-
tioi i', as amended, were a.iopteu.
The following hills were i;i'.rr.!r.c«i.
By Mr. Kellogg, appropriating
forth: C'liutructioti ot a nwblie feotldiag
for cou;thouse and post-office p.iroseafl
Opelousas, La , end appropriating $KMkr
000 for a public building for like purpo
ses at Shreveport, La.
After the morning hour, the unf.u>die*
business (the Chinese biP) was tcuipncart-
ly laid aside for a speech hy Mr.'Voethssr
• •ii the urgency of better accommndhiMtk?
for the library of Cougress, the now li
brary bill being taken up informally tar
that purpose. ’At the close of Mr. Voae-
hces’ remarks, Mr. Bayard suggested that
unless some othsr Senator desired Fxtc-
cuss the subject, a vote should beat eax
taken upon the bill. Messrs. Hani* aad
Ingalls objected, the latter giving liuttaswf
his intention hereafter to more a :eeoac-
n-itta! of tho bill, with inst.-uctiojusie (te
committee to provide for an enlarncecwG.
el tbe library in the Capitol. The feffi
was accordingly laid aside. The Seawfle
resumed consideration of theCMneceWM
am: Mr. Hoar opposed it at lengt/v
Mr. Hoar yielded the floor at Cff,
having been attentively heard tor mem
two ii: uts. The bill was then laid orwr
as unfinished business lor to morrow.
Messrs. J mas, of Louisiana, and (Iwr-
laud ini-minced bills to provide for o«wc
mail service between the United *jti
l J/il'-tmem I fn ei;:n ports j-Witlcal with the Ml
was the duly eleeA,. | 92 c^-i^on tha 2-V!i
— * ‘ Mr. Moreyrrctn the committee on peWt-
2 Hires. •
Air. K llogg introduced a rcsolutna te
an appre-ptiationtor educational puipo-
ae«, as follows :
Whereas, the prosperity and happiaetK
ot the people, the preservation cf liberty
and of a repulicau form of gOTa*-
tuvnt depend upou mental diieipKae
and a general diffusion ot knowing*,,
which itt their turn depend upsa the
education of the misses of the C;:iu na»-
ty ; and
Whereas, (In preservation of I lie iu-
tional governments republican ic
form is as much dependent upon the:
education of the people as is that sff
the Mates ; and
Whereas, it ignorance is an evil, mernae
for its removal should he mo t ti-reag-
ly directed where that evil 13 n. v: extaw-
sive, especially since illiteracy snd pov
erty exist together, while wcalth^aml tw~
teiligence go hand iu ban 9 tiwae-
lore be it
Revolted, That it is Uie duly toffee
general government, iu self deli-use and
for self preservation, to provide the useaes
necessary, whenever the people iff ate
Mates as such are unable or would Jmdfe-
proportionatcly burdened by th : UxaiaaD
requisite, or for any reason fill, to give
every child a good common sciim! mbs ca
tion, and be it further
Resohed, That the commit toe cln edu
cation and labor be instructed tn report,
at au early day a bill, with suitable safe
guards to secure its econoraieil mad
proper application, making approprritleM
of such sums of money as shall be dec-wed,
when combined with thereveiiutu «i need
from local taxation and the inctune flaw
local funds, sufficient to give lo all d£-
tlren of whatever race or eotor In *C1
States and Tcrritorks ot theUni:"dSiata-
an opportunity to secure a good camaaw
school education.
The Senate then adjourned.
HOUSE.
The Speaker laid before the (loose-«
message lro*n the President traiutaitziBg^
in reply to the House resolution of tte
24th ult., copies of letters from the Secre-
taiy of tlio Treasury and chairman of tbe
civil sen-ice commission, from which the
President states it will be ser-n thattte
appropriat ion of $15,000 made at the last
session of Congress for the promotion of (te
efficiency of the civil servie-i is still wea
pended, aud that iu orik r lo execute fee
provisions of sec! ton 1753 of tho revised
statutes, an annual appropriation <A
$25,000 will bo necessary: Referred.
Under tho call ot tbe committee* •
number of hills were reported and refemd
to the committee of tlio whale. Us.
Waite, ot Connecticut, from ths comnis«B
on elections, reported a resolution dis
missing the contested election case te
Lanier vc. King from tbe fifth district te
Louisiana. Adopted.
The House at 2:15 went in’o eotmaSBee
of the whole, Mr. Page, of California,«a
the chair, on the Indian approprisueo
bill. The total amount appropriated m
$4,920,201, an increase over last yeoc
of $35,GOO, ar.d a decrease of (921/KS
tram the estimates. The amount it tuaCo
up of the (ollowiug items: For fntfititad
treaty stipulations’, including tiie pay te
inspectors and interpreters and for
sencies $2,871,285 01; for trauapnvtaSaw
$275,000; removal, settlement and ■ehste-
ence of tribes, $1,135,500; general lad-
dental expenses $170,000; mlseellaaaoc^
$563,200; interest on trust fund tlosac,
$99,218
Several amendments were offered z*&
rejected. At 4:45 the reading of the rill
was completed, when the committee rase
aud reported it to the House, and it vm
pasted.
Air. IlarJenburg, of New York, by re
quest, introduced a bill to extend Indefi
nitely the corporate ex’stence of natianal
banking associations which was referaetS,
and the House adjourned. .
Waaliinxtou Gossip.
Washington, March 1.—The Pcete
dent to-day nominated L. L. Lewie, tx
United States attorney for tha eastern te
lnet of Virginia. James 51. Tarble, coilon-
tor of customs for tbe district of Beam-
cola, F’a. and to be postmasters, Maty E.
Wiley, Huntsville, Tex.; Fred-wieSc G.
Humphreys, Pensacola, Fla., and Matthew
P. Rue, Norfolk, Va.
The House committee on education mai
labor decided to-day to make an adeem
report lo tho House upon the bill wLufe
had been referred to them, providing te
the disposition of unclaimed bounty tciwtar
dne to colored soldiers by applying *he
the support of certain colored inslIfctCoae
iu the South. %-
The House coramitleo on minec swd
tt ining agreed to-day to report te fee
House a substitute for tho bill whlelt -ex
cludes Alabama Bom the provisions te
the act which allows certain mineral
lauds to bo disposed of as agrierdtix-a’
lands. The substitute proposes to excixCr.
Alabama in the operation of tbe tOL
The committee also agreed to report tc
tiie House favorably the bill to prefect
any but the owner of a mining ciiiae.
from cutting timber on said claim.
Washington, March 1.—In the Sen*
ate, Mr. Vest introduced a hill to prohibit
the issue of bank notes or currency by
national banks that may he organized or
reorganized after tbe first of July, ISS2.
He said he saw by the papers this morn
ing that the Attorney General had de
clared an official opinion to the effect that
tinder the existing laws, without addi
tional legislation by Congress, national
batiks could continue their existence with
tbe game privileges and powers now con
ferred by the existing statutes. By the
report of the comptroller of currency it
appeared that three hundred and ninety-
three of these institutions wou’d go ont
of existence between May 1, 13S2, and
July 1, 1883, without legislation. Then
the presert banking system must con
tinue for an indefinite period of time. He
simply desired to bring this question
fairly and squarely before tho representa
tives of the people, and for that reason in
troduced a hill which provides that Ihe
feature tf tlio present law which confers
upou tbe national batiks the power to is
sue currency upon bonds of tbe United
Mates, shall cease as to banks organized
or reorganized after July I, 1882. Ilq be
lieved, if be might be permitted to say so,
that the committee on finance was op
posed to any such legislation, aud if
they were, (te hoped his bill would not be
consigucd to tbe tomb of the Capulets,
but that it would be reported back, either
favorably or unfivorahly.
The resolutions reported yesterday from
the conimilitee on f trrdgn relations for an
investigation of the loss or abstraction
front the Mate Department of dipmatic
correspondence relating to Cnitf and Pe
ru, and as to auy improper connection of
diplomatic or oilier officers or tnambers
of (Jongruss «;ith cou’racts or arrange
ments iu regard to claims against or
“I hexed,” said Labouchcro ia hto
paper, the London Tru'.U, “of a ball tbe dior
day in average middle class ‘society,’ at trlidb
less than 200 people were present, ool Ui
liquor consumed between 9 p. m. and ' a.
amounted to seventeen dozen of dnn| .igx*.
rry. twelve i : -fl brssdy.
best lie- -iverul .lorei* >>f riarThe sefiM et
menu ... --- - “c-" * ” I tin* llnnle wa* siin-' t levt-lx-r. 'ira lur i* tbsel
grints derived from those countries, were J .icc-iiwd «t the oi the. tit
taken uo. Mr. Bay a r d said tiie poiu(,to chapter of Harry Lorrciuer."
