1882. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1465 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

1\loNDAY, February 27, 1882. 

The House met at twelve o'clock m. Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. 

F. D. POWER. MEMORIAL OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 

The SPEAKER. This day has been dedicated by the action of the 

two Houses of Congre~:~s to services in commemoration of the life and 

death of James Abram Garfield, late Pre ident of the United States. 

This action was taken through the adoption of concurrent resolutions 

by the unanimous vote of the two Houses, presented by a select joint 

committee appointed "to consider and report by what token of re- spect, esteem, and affection it may be proper for Co,ngress to express 

its and the nation's deep sensibility over the event of the decease of our late President." 

This House is now assembled and ready to perform :its part in the 

solemn duty. The Clerk will read the concurrent resolutions. 

The Clerk read the following concurrent resolutions adopted by 

both Houses of Congress December 21, 1881: 

Whereas the melancholy event of the violent and tragic death of .James Abram 

Garfield late President of the United States, having occurred during the recess of Conu-;e:;s, and the two Houses sharing in the general grief and desiring to man- ifest their sensibility upon the occa.sioD of the public bereavement: Therefore, Be it resolved by the Hause of Representatives, (the i:JMtate concurrina,) That the two Houses of Con!ITess will assembfo in the Hall of the House of Representatives on a day aml horu!"to be fixed and announced by the ,joint committee, and that in the presence of the two Hou~;es there assembled an address upon the life and chara{l- ter of James Abram Garfield, late President of the United States, be pronounced 

by Ron. James G. Blaine, ancl that the President of the Senate pro tempore and 

the Speaker of the House of Representatives be requested to invite the President 

and ex-Presillm1ts of the United States, the heads of the several Department-s, the judrres of tbe Supreme Court, the representatives of the foreign governments near tbfs Government., t.he governors of t.he several States, the General of the 

Army, antl the Atlmiral of the Navy, and such officers of the Army and Navy as have 1·ecei Yetl tl10 thanks of Congress, who may then be at the seat of Government, to be present on the occasion. 

And be itf~trthcr rrsolved., That the President of the United States be requested to tranBmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfiel£1, ancl to assure her of the llrofound sympathy of the two HouRes of Co.ngress for her deep personal 

atllietion, and of their sincere condolence for the late national bereavement. 

The Clerk also read the following concmrent rer.;olution adopted 

by IJoth Hon es of Congress February 1, 1882: 

Resolved by the How;e of Representati-ces, (the Senate C01lC'Itrring,) That Monday, the 27th day of February, 1882, be set apart for the memoiial services upon the late 

President, ,James .A.. Garfield. 

The following vrogmmme of arrangements prepared by the joint 

committee of both Houses was carried out : 

PROGRA.'Illffi OF ARRANGEMENTS. 

The Capitol will be closed on t.he morning of the 27th to all except the members 

and officers of Congt·ess. 

At ten o'clock the ea,.tdoor leading to the Rotunda. will be opened to those to whom 

invitations have been extended under the joint resolution of Congress b:y the pre- siding officers of the two Houses, and to those holding ticket-s of admissiOn t-o the 

galleiies. · The Hall of the House of RepreRenta.tives will be opened for the admission of Representative!'~ and t-o tho e who have invitations, who will be conducted to the seats assigned to thom, as follows: 

The President antl ex-President-s of the United States and special guests will 

be seated in front of the Speaker. 

'l'he Chief-Justice and associate justices of the Supreme Court will occupy seats next to the President and ex-Presidents and special guests, on the right of 

the Speaker. 

The Cabinet officers, t.heGeneral of the Army and Admiral of the Navy, and the 

officers of the Army aml Navy who, by name, have received the thanks of Con- gre s, will occnN' :seats on the left of the Speaker. 

The chief-justice anll judges of the Court of Claims and the chief-justice aml 

assoc.iate justices of the supreme court of the District of Columbia will occupy seats directly in the r ear of the Supreme Court. 

The fli]Jloma.tic corps will occupy the front row of seats. Ex-Vicc-Pre:;idents, Senators, and ex-Senators will occupy seats in the second, 

third, fom·th, anlllifth rows, on east side of main aisle. Represent.atiYes will occupy seats on west side of main aisle and in rear of the 

Senators 011 cast side. Commissioners of the District, govemors of States and Territories, assistant head::~ of Departruen ts, aml invited guests will occupy seats in reru· of Representative . . The Executi\' e ~a.llery will ue reserved exclu ively for the familie-s of the Su- preme Conrt ancl the families of the Cabinet anrl the invited guests of the President. Tickets thereto will be delivered to the Privat-e Secretary of the President. 

The d iplomatic gallery "\\ill be reserved exclusively for the families of the mem- b el"!! of the diplomatic corps. Tickets thereto will be delivered to the Secretary 

of St.n.te. 

Tl.Je reporters' gallery will be reserved exclusively for the use of the r eporters 

for l he presR. Ticket'! thereto will be delivered to the press committee. 

ThAotlicial reporters oft he Senate and oftheHou.se willoccupythereporters' desk 

in front of tl1e Clerk's table. 

The Honse of Re1nesentatives will be called t-o order by the Speaker at twelve 

o'clock. 

Tbo Marine Band will be in attendance. 

'l'he Senate will assemble at twelve o'clock, ann immediately after prayer will proceed to t.he Hall of the Rouse of Representatives. 

Tile diplomatjc corps will meet at half past eleYen o'clock in Representatives' 

lobby, antl be comlucted by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House to the seats asRi.,.neil them. 

1'11e President oftbe Senate will occupy the Speaker's chair. 

The Speaker of the House "\\'ill occupy a seat at the left of the President of the 

Senate. 

'!'he Chaplains of the Senat-e and of the House will occupy seats next to the pre- sitling officers of their respective Houses. . The chairmen of the joint committee of arran.,.ements will occupy seats at the ri~ht. anclleft of the orator, :md next to them ,rill be seated the Secretary of the 

Senate }Utd the Clerk of the House. '!'be other otlicers of the Senate and of the House will occupy seats on the floor at t.be right and the left of the Speaker's platform. 

Prayer will be offered by the Rev. F. B. POWER, Chaplain of the Honse of Representatives. 

The presi<lin~ officer will then present the orator of the day. . The benediction will be pronounced by the Rev . .J . .J. BULLOCK, Chaplam of the 

Senate. 

Byrea.son of the limited capacity of the galleries the number of tickets is neces- sarily restricted, and will be distributed as follows : To each t\enator, R.ep~entative, and D~leuate, 3 tickets. . . No person will be admitted to the Cap1tof except on presentation of a ticket, 

which will be good only for the place indicated. 

The Architect of the Capitol and the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate and Sergeant-at-Arms of the House are charged with the execution of these arrangements. 

.TORY SHERMAN, 

WM. McKINLEY, .JR., Ohai'1"1TI.eTI. Joint Committee. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore of the Senate called the two Houses 

to order. 

Rev. F. D. PoWER, Chaplain of the House of Representatives, 

offered prayer, as follows: · 0 Lord, our God, we thank Thee for this hour and fort.his service. 

We thank Thee for a great life given to this nation; for its genius 

and potencies; for its example and memories; for its immortality and 

eternity. May this Republic never forget its dead. 

As we come together this day to recall the wisdom, the integrity, 

the statesmanship, the loyalty, the reverence for Thee and Thy word, 

the unselfish love for country and for all mankind, wherewith Thou 

didst endow Thy servant and fit him for the administration of the 

affairs of the Government; as we meditate upon the patience, the 

s·weetness, the fortitude, the faith, the quiet 1·esignation to Thy will 

wherewith Thou didst fit him for his sore trial; as we remember his 

trimnph and onr sorrow, grant us Thy gracious benediction. 

'Ve hear, during this memorial service, om Father, before Thee, on onr hearts, his lovecl ones with whom we weep. Sustain, we beseech Thee, the mother who bore him. May the peace of God 

that passeth all understanding be the strength and the crown of her 

'pirit. Be very merciful to the wife in her present separation from 

the husband of her youth. May she rest in God, and may she find 

such syrup a thy and joy in her Saviour as the world can not give nor take 

away. Be a father to the children now fatherless, and may they 

imitate the virtues of their illustrious parent, and like him be useful 

in living and mourned in dying. May the youth of this land and ol 

all lands feel the power of h.is example and follow in his footsteps. 

May those who rule among us and among men everywhere by the 

stndy of his virtues be incited to like patriotism and piety. 

Now we a~k Thy blessing on this assembly. May the remembrance 

of this great life be a genuine help to all t,hose present and that 

greater audience waiting without. Give grace and utterance to Thy 

servant who shall speak to us. May his words be wise and worthy 

ancl fitly chosen, like apples of gold in pictures of silver. . Remember Thy servant before Thee, the President of the United 

States. Preserve him from evil influences and evil men. May trnth 

rest upon his brow, wisdom upon his lips, justice in his hands, and 

grace in his heart. Bless his counselor , this Congress assembled, our magistrates and judges, our Army and Navy, our schools and 

churches, our whole land and all the inhabitants thereof. 

May we keep alive in us the faith and virtue of those who have 

passed before. Give peace in our time. Make religion and righteousness, truth and justice, knowledge and freedom to abound everywhere. May Thy name be glorified and Thy kingdom rule ovP.r us from sea to sea. 'Ve ask it all reverently, through J esns Christ, om Lord. Amen. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore of the Senate. Senators and Repre- entatives, this day is dedicated by Congress for memorial services 

upon the late President, James A. Garfield. I present to you Ron. 

James G. Blaine, who has been fitly chosen as the orator for this his- torical occasion. · 

Mr. BLAINE (who was greeted with hearty applaWle) delivered 

the following 

OUATION. 

Mr. PRBSIDEXT: :For the second time in this generation the great 

departments of the Government of the United States are assembled 

in the Hall of Representatives to do honor to the memory of a mur- dered President. Lincoln fell at the close of a mighty strnggle in 

which the passions of men had been deeply stirred. The tragical 

termination of his great life added but aBother to the lengthened 

succession of horrors which had marked so many lintels with tho 

blood of the first born. Garfield was sL'l.in in a day of peace, when 

brother had been reconciled to brother, and when anger and hate 

had been banished from the land. "Whoever shall hereafter draw 

the portrait of mmder, if he will show it as it bas been exhibited 

where such example was last to have been looked for, let him uot 

give it the grim visage of l\1oloch, the brow knitted by revenge, the 

tace black with settled hate. Let him draw, rather, a decorous 

smooth-faced, bloodless demon ; not so much an example of human 

nature in its depravity and in its paroxysms of crime, as an infernal 

being, a fiend in the ordinary display and dtwelopment of his char- ac.ter." 

From the landiYg of the Pilgrims at Plymouth till the uprising against Charles I, about twenty thousand emigrants came from 

olu England to New England. As they came in pursuit of intellectual freedom and ecclesiastical independence rather than for worldly 

honor and profit, the emigration naturally ceased when the contest 
1466 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. FEBRUARY 27, 

for religious liberty bo.3gan in earnest at home. The man who struck 

his mo~:~t effective blow for freedom of conscience by sailing for the 

colonie in 1620 would have been accounted a dese~.r to leave after 

1640. The opportunity had then come on the soil of England for that ~reat conte~:~t which established the authority of Parliament, gave re- ligions freedom to the people, sent Charles to the block, and committeO. to the hands of Oliver Cromwell the supreme executive authority 

of England. The English emigration was never renewed, and from 

these twenty thousand men, with a small emigration from Scot.Jand 

and from France, are descended the vast numbers .who have New 

England blood in their veins. 

In 1685 the revocatiOn of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV scat 

tered to other countries four hundred thousand Protestants, who were among the most intelligent and enterprising of French subjects-merchants of capital, skilled manufacturers, and handicraftsmen, superior at the time to all others in Europe. A considerable 

number of these Huguenot French came to America; a few landed 

in New England and became honorably prominent in its history. 

Their names have in large part become anglicized, or have disappeared, but their blood is traceable in many of the most reputable 

families, and their fame is perpetuated in honorable memorials and 

useful institutions. 

From tllese two sources, the English-Puritan and the French-Huguenot, came the late President-his father, Abram Garfield, being 

descended from the one, and his mother, Eliza Ballou, from the other. 

It was good st.ock on both sides-none better, none braver, none trm·r. Tllere was in it an inheritance of courage, of manliness, of imperishable love of liberty, of undying adherence to principle. Gar1ieltl was proud of his blood; and, with as much satisfaction as if he were a British nobleman reading his stately ancestral record in 

Burke's Peerage, he spoke of himself as ninth in descent from tho e who would not endure the oppression of the Stuarts, and seventh in 

l1escent from the brave French Protestants who refused to submit to 

t.yranny even from the Grand Monarque. 

General Garfield delighted to dwell on these traits, and, during his 

only visit to England, he busied himself in discovering every trace of 

his forefathers in parish registries and on ancient army rolls. Sitting 

with a friend in the gallery of the House of Commons, one night, after :.~ lung uay's labor in this field of research, he said, with evident ola- 1 ion, that in every war in which for three centuries patriots of English blood bad struck sturdy blows for constitutional government 

and human liberty, his family had been represented. They were at 

:Marston Moor, at Naseby, and at Preston; they were at Bunker HHl, 

n.t Saratoga, and at Monmouth, and in his own person had battled 

for the same great cause in the war which preserved the Union of the 

States. 

Losing his father before he was two years old, the early life of Garfield was one of pri vatim1, but its poverty has been made indelicately 

and unjustly prominent. Thousands of readers have imagined him as the ragged, sta.rving child, whose reality too often greets the eye 

iu the squalid sections of our large cities. General Garfield's infancy 

and youth had none of their destitution, none of their pitiful features 

appealing to the tender heart and to the open hand of charity. He was a 11oor boy in the same sense in which Henry Clay was a poor 

boy; in wllich Andrew Jackson was a poor boy; in wllich Daniel 

\Vebster was a poor boy; in the sense in which a large majority of 

tile eminent men of America in all generations have been poor boys. 

Bc·fore a great multitude of men, in a public speech, Mr. Webster 

bore this testimony: 

It di<l not bapl,len to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder brothers and 

sisters were born m a log cabin raised amid the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a perio<l so early that when the smoke rose first from its rnde chimney and curled o•er tlte frozen hills there was no similar evidence of a white man's habitation 

l1etween it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exist. 

I wake to it an annual visit. I carry my children to it to teach them the bardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with all I know of this primitive family 

abode. 

With the requisite change of scene the same words would aptly 

portray the early days ot' Garfield. The poverty of the frontier, 

where all are engaged in a common struggle and where a common s:vm pathy and hearty co-operation li~bten the burdens of each, is a very 

different poverty, different in kind, different in influence and effect 

from that conscious and humiliating indigence which is every day 

forced to contrast itself with neighboring wealth on which it feels a sense of grinding dependence. The poverty of the frontier is indeed no poverty. It 1s but the beginning of wealth, and bas the boundless possibilities of the future always opening before it. No man ever grew np in the agrkultural regions of the West where a houseraising, or even a corn-husking, is matter of common interest and 

he.lpfulness, with any ot.her feeling than that of broad-minded, gen- erons independence. This honorable independence marked the youth 

of Garfield as it· marks the youth of millions of the best blood and 

brain now training for the future citizenship and future government 

of the Republic. Garfield was born heir to land, to the title of freelwlJer, ,.,·bich has been the patent and passport of self-respect wit.h 

the .A..uglo-Saxon race ever since Hengist and Horsa landed on the 

shores of England. His adventure on the canal-an alternative between that and the deck of a Lake Erie schooner-was a farmer boy's 

device for earning money, just as the New England lad begins a possibly great career by sailing before the mast on a coasting vessel or on a merchantman bound to the farther India or to the China sea-s. No manly man feels anything of shame in looking back to early 

struggles with adverse circumstances, and no man.feels a worthier 

pride than when be has conquered the obstacles to his progress. 

But no one of noble mould desires to be looked upon as having occu- pied a menial position, as having been repressed by a feeling of inferiority, or as having suffered the evils of poverty until relief was found at the hand of charity. General Garfield's youth presented no hardships which family love and family energy did not overcome, 

subjected him to no privations which he did not cheerfully accept, 

and left no memories save those which were recalled with delight, 

and transmitted with profit and with pricle. 

Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were ex- tremely limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an intense 

desire to learn. He could read at three years of age, and each winter 

he had the advantage of the district school. He read all the books 

to be found within the circle of his acquaintance; some of them he 

got by heart. While yet in childhood he was a constant student of 

the Bible, and became familiar with its literature. The dignity and 

earuestne s of his speech in his maturer life gave evidence of this 

early training. At ei~hteen years of age he was able to teach school, 

and thenceforward his ambition wa-s to obtain a college education. 

'I'o this end he bent all his efforts, working in the harvest field, at 

the carpenter's bench, and, in the winter season, teaching the com- mon schools of t.he neighborhood. While thus laboriously occupied 

he found time to prosecute his studies, and was so successful that at 

twent.y-two years of age he was able to enter the ·junior class at 

Williams College, then under the presidency of the venerable and 

honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the fullness of his powers, survives 

the eminent pupil to whom he was of inestimable service. 

The history of Garfield's life to this period presents no novel features. He had undoubtedly shown perseverance, self-reliance, selfsacrifice, and ambition-qualities which, be it said for the honor of our country, are everywhere to be found among the young men of America. But from his graduation at Williams onward, to the hour of 

his tragical death, Garfield's career wa-s eminent and exceptional. 

Slowly working through his educational period, receiving his diploma 

when twenty-four years of age, he seemed at one bound to spring 

into conspicuous and brilliant success. Within six years he was successively president of a college, State senator of Ohio, major-general of the Army of the United States, and Representative-elect to the 

National Congress. A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, 

within a period so brief and to a man so young, is without precedent or parallel in the history of the country. 

Garfield:s army life was begun with no other military knowl~dge 

than such a-s he had hastily gained from books in the few month 

preceding his march to the field. Stepping from civil life to the head 

of a regiment, the first order he received when ready to cross the Ohio was to assume command of a brigade, and to operate as an independent force in Eastern Kentucky. His immediate duty was to check 

the advance of Humphrey Marshall, who was marching down the 

Big Sandy wit.h the intention of occupying, in connection with other 

confederate forces, the entire territory of Kentucky, and of precipitating the State into secession. This was at the close of the year 1861. 

Seldom, if ever, has a young college professor been thrown into a more embarrassing and discouraging position. He knew just enough of 

military science, as he expressed it himself, to measure the extent of 

his ignorance, and with a handful of men he was marching, in rough 

winter weather, into a strange country, among a hostile population, 

to confront a largely superior forc.e under the command of a distinguished graduate ofWest Point, who had seen active and important 

service in two preceding wars. The result oftbecampaign ismatterofhistory. Thes1..··ill, the endurance, the extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, the courage he 

imparted to his men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he 

adopted to increase his force and to create in the enemy's mind ex- aggerated estimates of his numbers, bore perfect fruit in the routing 

of Marshall, the capture of his camp, the dispersion of his force, and 

the emancipation of an important territory from the control of the 

rebellion. Coming at the close of a long series of disasters to the 

Union arms, Garfield's victory had an unusual and extraneous importance, and in the popular judgment elevated the yollllg com- mander to the rank of a military hero. "With less than two thousand 

men in his entire command, with a mobilized force of only eleven 

hlllldred, without cannon, he had met au army of five thousand and 

defeated them-driving Marshall's forces successively from two 

strongholds of their own selection, fortified with abundant artillery. 

Major-General Buell, commanding the Department of the Ohio, n.n experienced and able soldier of the Tegular Army, published an order 

of thanks and congratulation on the brilliant result of the Big Sandy 

campaign, which would have turned the head of a less ~ool and sensible man than Garfield. Buell declared that his services had called into 

action the highest qualities of a soldier, and President Lincoln supplemented these words of praise by the more substantial reward of a briga-dier-general's commission, to bear date from the day of his decisive victory over Marshall. 

The subseque-nt military career of Garfield fully sustained its brilliant beginning. With his new commission he was assigned to the 

command of a brigade in the Army of the \)hio, and took part in the 
1882. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1467 

second and decisive day's fight in the great battle of Shiloh. The 

remainder of the year 1862 was not especially eventful to Garfield, as it wa~ not to the armies with which he was serving. His practical sen e was called into exercise in completing the task, assigned 

him by General Buell, of reconstructing bridges and re-establishing 

lines of railway communication for the Army. His occupation in 

this useful but not brilliant field was varied by service on courtsmartial of importance, in which department of duty he won a valuable 

reputation, attracting the notice and securing the approval of the 

able and eminent Judge-Advocate-General of the Army. That of 

itself was warrant to honorable fame; for among the great men who 

in irhose trying days gave themselves, with entire devotion, to the 

service of their country, one who · brought to that service the ripest 

]earning, the most fervid eloquence, the most varied attainments, 

who labored with modesty and shunned applause, who in the day 

of triumph sat reserved and silent and grateful-as I<,rancis Deak in 

the hour of Hungary's deliverance-was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, 

who in his honorable retirement enjoys the respect and veneration of 

all who love the Union of the States. 

Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important and 

responsible post of chief of staff to General Rosecrans, then at the head 

of the Army of the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great military cam- paign no subordinate officer requires sounder judgment and quicker 

knowledge of men than the chief of staff to the commanding general. 

An indiscreet man in such a position can sow more discord, breed more jealousy and disseminate more strife than any other officer in 

the entire organization. When General Garfield assumed his new duties he found various troubles already well developed and seriously 

affecting the value and efficienc.v of the Army of the Cumberland. 

The energy, the impartiality, and the tact with which he sought to 

allay these dissensions, and to discharge the duties of his new and 

trying position will always remain one of the most striking proofs ot 

his great versatility. His military duties clo ed on the memorable 

field of Chickamauga, a field which, however disastrous to the Union 

arms, gave to him the occasion of winning imperishable laurels. The 

very rare distinction was accorded him of a great promotion for his 

bravery on a field that was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a major-general in the Army of the United States for gallant ani! 

meritorious conduct in the battle of Chickamauga. 

The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized under the command 

of General Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He was extremely desirous to accept the position, but was embarrassed by the fact that he had, a year before, been elected to 

Congress, and the time when he must take his seat was drawing near. He preferred to remain in the military service, and had within 

his own breast the largest confidence of success in the wider field 

which his new rank opened to him. Balancing the arguments on the one side and the othe:r, anxious to determine what was for the best, 

desirous above all things to do his patriotic duty, he was decisively 

influenced by the advice of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, 

both of whom assured him that be could, at that time, be of especial 

value in the House of Representatives. He resigned his commission 

of major-general on the 5th day of December, 186:3, and took his 

seat in the House of Representatives on the 7th. He had served two 

years and four months in the Army, and had just completed his 

thirty-second year. 

The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in history to 

the designation of the War Congress. It was elected while the war was flagrant, and every member was chosen upon the issues involved 

in the continuance of the struggle. The Thirty-seventh Congress 

had, indeed, legislated to a large extent on war measures, but it was chosen before any one believed that secession of the States would be 

actually attempted. The magnitude of the work which fell upon its successor was unprecedented, both in respect to the vast sums of 

money raised for the support of the Army and Navy, and (lfthe new and extraordinary powers of legislation which it was forced to exer- cise. Only twenty-four States were represented, and one hundred 

and eighty-two members were upon its roll. Among these were many distinguished party leaders on both sides, veterans in the public service, with establit;hed reputations for ability, and with that 

skill wbioh comes only from parliamentary experience. Into this . assemblage of men Garfield entered without spectal preparation, and 

it might almost be said unexpectedly. The question of taking com- mand of a division of troops under General Thomas, or taking his 

seat in Congress, was kept open till the last moment, so late, indeed, 

that the resignation of his military commission and his appearance 

in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uniform of a maJor-general of the United States Army on Saturday, and on Monday, iu civilian's dress, he answered to the roll-call as a Representative in Congress from the State of Ohio. 

He was especially fortunate in the constituency which elected him. 

Descended almost entirely from New England stock, the men of the 

Ashtabula district were intensely radical on all questions relating 

tl) h~man rights. Well-educated, thrifty, thoroughly intelligent in 

affairs, acutely discerning of character, not quick to bestow confidence, 

and slow to withdraw it, 1Jhey were at once the most helpful and most 

exacting of supporters. Their tenacious trust in men in whom they have once confided is illustrated by the unparalleled fact that Elisha Wll~ttlesey, Joshua R. Giddings, and James .A.. Garfield represented 

the district for fifty-four years. 

There is no test of a man's ability in any department of public life more severe than service in the House of Representatives; there is no place where so little deference is paid to reputation previously 

acquired, or to eminence won outside; no place where so little con- sideration is shown for the feelings or the failures of beginners. 

What a man gains in the House he gains by sheer force of his own chara-cter, and if he loses and falls back he must expect no mercy, 

and will1·eceive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival of 

the strongest is the recognized rule, and where no pretense can deceive 

and no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, his worth 

is impartially weighed, his ra~kis irreversibly decreed. 

With possibly a single exception Garfield was the youngest mem- ber in the House when be entered, and was but seven years from his 

college graduation. But he had not been in his seat sixty days before 

hili auility was recognized and his place conceded. He stepped to the 

front with the confidence of one who belonged there. The House wa~ 

crowded with strong men of both parties; nineteen of them have since 

been transferred to the Senate, and many of them have served with 

distinction in the gubernatorial 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. As is said by Trevelyan 

of his parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded " becanse all t.he worl<l 

in concert could not have kept him in the background, and because 

when once in the front he played his part with a prompt intrepidity 

and a commanding ease that were but the outward symptoms of the 

immense reserves of energy, on which it wa-s in his power to draw." 

Indeed the apparently reserved force which Garfield possessed was one of his great characteristics. He never did so well but that it 

seemed be could easily have done better. He never expended so much 

strPngth but that he seemed to be holding additional power at call. 

This is one of the happiest and rarest distinctions of an effective 

debater, and often counts for as much in persuading an assembly as the eloquent and elaborate argument. 

The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled by his service in 

the House of Representatives. His military life, illustrated by honorable performance, and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, prematurely terminated, and necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to what he might have done in a field, where the great prizes are so few, cannot be. profitable. It is sufficient to say that as a soldier he did his duty bravely; he did it intelligently; he won au enviable fame, and he retired from the service without blot or breath 

against him. As a lawyer, thongh admirably equipped for the profession, he can scarcely be said to have entered on its practice. The 

few efforts he mane at the bar were distinguished by the same high 

order of talent which he exhibited on every field where he was put to 

the test, and if a man may be accepted as a competent judge of his own capacities and adaptations, the law was the profession to wrnch 

Garfield should have devoted himself. But fate ordained otherwise, 

and his reputation in history will rest largely upon his service in the 

House of Representatives. That service was exceptionally long. 

He was nine times consecutively chosen to the House, an honor en- joyed probably by not twenty other Representatives of the more than 

five thousand who have been elected from the organization of the 

Government to this hour. 

As a parliamentary orator, as a debater on au issue squarely joined, 

where the position had been chosen and the ground laid out, Garfield must be a~signed a very high rank. :More, perhaps, than any man with whom be was associated in public life, he gave careful and 

systematic study to public questions and he came to every discussion 

in which he took part with elaborate and complete preparation. He was a steady and indefatigable worker. Those who imagine that 

talent or genius can supply the place or achieve the results of labor 

will find uo encouragement in Garfield's life. Iu preliminary work he was apt, rapid, and skillful. He po sessed in a high degree the power 

of readily absorbing ideas and fa-cts, and like Dr. Johnson, had 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 at 

the table of contents. He was a pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no petty advantage,·stooped to no unworthy methods, 

avoided personal allnsions, rarely appealed to prejudice, did not seek 

to inflame passion. He had a quicker eye for the strong point of his 

adversary than for his weak point, and on his own side he so mar- shaled his weighty arguments as to make his hearers forget any possible lack in the complete strength of his position. Ho bad a habit 

of stating his opponent's side witn such amplitude of fairness and such 

liberality of concession that his followers often complained that he was giviug his case away. But never in his prolonged participation 

in the proceedings of the House did he give his case away, or fail 

in the judgment of competent and impartial listeners to gain the 

mastery. -

These characteristics, which marked Garfield as a great debater, 

did not, however, make him a great parliamentary leader. .A. parliamentary leader, as that term is ll!lderstood wherever free representative government exiRts, is necessarily and very strictly the organ 

of his party. .A.n ardent American defined the instinctive warmth of 

patriotism when he offered the toast, "Our country, always right; but right or Wrong, our country." The parliamentary leader who 

has a body of fo:.lowers that will do and dare and die for the cause, 

is one who believes his ~arty always right, but right or wrong, is 

for hl.s party. No more Important or exacting duty devolves upon 
1468 CONGRESSIONAL RECOI{D-HOUSE. .U,EBRU.ARY 27, 

him than the selection of the field and the time for contest. He 

must know not merely how to strike, but where to strike and when 

to strike. He often skillfully avoids the strength of his opponent's 

position a,nd scatters confusion in his ranks by attacking an exposed 

point when really the righteousness of the cause and the strength of 

logical intrenchment are against him. He conquers often both 

against the right and the heavy battalions; as when youn~ Charle 

Fox, in the days of his Toryism, carried the House of t.Jommons 

against justice, against its immemorial rights, against his own con- victions, if, indeed, at that period Fox had convictions, and, in the 

i ni erest of a corrupt administration, in obedience to a tyrannical sov- ereign, drove Wilkes from the seat to which the electors of Middlesex 

had chosen him and installed Luttrell, in defiance not morely of law 

but of public decency. For an achievement of that kind Garfield was disqualified-disqualified by the texture of his mind, by the honesty 

of his heart, by his conscience, and by every instinct and aspiration 

of his nature. The three most distinguished parliamentary leaders hitherto developed in this country are .Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus 

St-evens. Each was a man of consummate abmty, of great earnestness, 

of intense personality, differing widely, each from the other, and yet 

wit.h a signal trait in common- the power to command. In the ~iveand-take of daily discussion, in the art of controlling and consolidating reluctant and refractory followers; in the skill to overcome all 

forms of opposition, and to meet with competency and courage the 

varying pba es of unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defection, it 

would be difficult to rank with these a fourth name in all our Congressional history. But of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It weuld, 

perhaps, be impossible to .find in the parliamentary annals of the 

world a pamllel to Mr. Clay, in 1841, when at sixty-four years of age 

he took the control of the Whig party from the President who had re- ceived their suffrages, against the power of ·webster in the Cabinet, 

against the eloquence of Choate in the Senate, against t.h~ herculean 

efforts of Caleb Cushing and Henry A. Wise in the House. In un- shared leadership, in the pride and plenitude of power, he hurled 

a,gainst John Tyler with deepest scorn the mass of that conquering 

column which bad swept over the land in 1840, and drove his administration to seek shelter behind the lines of his political foes. Mr. Douglas achieved a victory scarcely less wonderful when, in 1854, 

against the secret desires of a strong administration, against the 

wlse counsel of the older chiefs, against the conservative instincts 

and even the moral sense of the country, he forced a reluctant Congress int o a repeal of the Missouri compromise. Mr. Thandeus Stevens 

in his contests from 1865 to 1868 actually advanced his parliamentary 

leadership until Congress tied th11 bands of the President and gov- erned the country by its own will, leaving only perfunctory duties to 

be discharged by the Executive. With two hundred millions of pat- rona,ge in his ba,nds at the opening of the contest, aided by the active 

force of Seward in th~ Cabinet and the moral power of Chase on t.he 

bench, Andrew Johnson could not comma,nd the support of one-third 

in either House against the parliamentary uprising of which Tha<ldeus Stevens was the animating spirit and the unquestioned leader. 

From these three great men Garfield differed radicall.v, differed in 

the quality of his mind, in temperament, in the form and phase of am- bition. He could not do what they did, but be could do what they 

could not, and in the breadth of his Congressional work he left that 

which will longer exert a potential influence among men, a,nd which, 

measured by the severe test of posthumous criticism, will secure a more enduring and more enviable fame. - Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and 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 

belonged b.as contributed so mnch that will be valuable for future 

1·eference. His speeches are numerous, many of them brilliant, all 

of them well studied, carefully phrased, and exhaustive of the sub- ct under consideration. Collected from the scattered pages of 

ninety royal octavo volumes of Congressional record, they would 

pre ent an inva,luable compendium of the political history of the ruost import.ant era through which the National Government has ever passed. When the history of this period shall be impartially written, 

when war legislation, measures of reconstruction, protection of hu- man rights, amendments to the Constitution, maintenance of public credit., steps toward specie resumption, true theories of revenue may 

be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and disconnected from par- tisanism, the speeches of Garfield will be estimated at their true 

valne, and will be found to comprise a vast magazine of fact and 

argument, of clear analysis and sound concllision. Indeed, if no other authority were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representa,tives from December, 1863, to J une, 1880, would give a wellconnected history and complete defense of the important legislation 

of the seventeen eventful years that constitute his parliamentary 

life. Far beyond that, his speeches would be found to forecast many 

great measures yet to be completed-measures which he knew were beyond the p'nblic opinion of the hour, but which he confidently be- lieved would secure popular approval within the period of his own lifetime and by the aid of his (lt WU efforts. Differing, as Garfield does, fr4lm the brilliant parliamentary leaders, 

it is not easy to find his counterpart anywhere in the record of Ameri- ean public life. He perhaps more nearly resembles Mr. Seward in 

his supreme faith in the all-conquering power of a principle. He 

bad the love ef learning, and the patient industry of investigation, 

to 'vhicb John Quincy Adams owes his prominence and his Presidency. He had some of tho e ponderous elements of mind which 

distinguished l\Ir. Webster, and which, indee.d, in all our public life 

have left the great Massachusetts Senator without an intellectual 

peer. In English parliamentary history, as in our owri, the leaders in the 

House of Commons present points of essential difference from Garfield. But some of his methods recall the best features in the strong, 

independent course of Sir Robert Peel, and striking resemblances are discernible in that most promising of modern conservatives, who died 

too early for his count.ry and his fame, the Lord George Bentinck. He 

had all of Burke's love for the Sublime and the Beautiful, with, possibly, something of his superabundance; and in his faith and his magnanimity, in his power of statement, in his subtle analysis, in his 

faultless logic, in his love of literature, in his wealth and world of 

illustration, one is reminded of that great English statesman of today, who, confronted with obstacles that would daunt !Mly but the 

dauntless, reviled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by 

those whose supposed rights he is forced to invade, still h:Lbors with serene coura.ge for the ~eli oration of Ireland and for the honor of the 

EnO'lish name. . Garfield's nomination to the Presidency, while not predicted or anticipated, was not a surprise to the country. His prominence in 

Congress, his solid qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened by 

his then recent election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in the public 

eye as a man occupying the very highest rank among those entitled 

to be called statesmen. It was not mere chance that brought 

him this high bon nr. "We must," says 1\fr. Emerson, "reckon suc- cess a constitutional trait. If Eric is in robust health and has slept 

well and is at the top of his condition, and thirty years old at his 

departure from Greenland, he will steer west and his ships will reach 

Newfoundland. But take Eric out and put in a stron~er and boldf'r man and the ships will sail six hundred, one thousana, fifteen hundred miles farther and reach Labrador and New England. There is no chance in results." 

As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met with a storm of detraction at the very b.our of his nomination, 

and it continued with increasing volume and momentum until the 

close of his victorious campaign : 

No might nor greatness in mortality Cllll censure 'scape; back wounding calumny The whitest virtue strikes. What king so skong Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue 7 

Under it all he was calm, and strong, and confident; never lost his 

self-possession, did no unwi e act, spoke no hasty, or ill-considered 

word. Indeed nothing in his whole life is more remarkable or moro creditable than his bearing through those five full months of vituperation-a prolonged agony of trial to a sensitive man, a constant aTlCl 

cruel draft upon the powers of moral endurance. The great mass of 

these unjust imputations pa.ssed unnoticed, and with the general 

dibris of the campaign fell into oblivion. But ina few instances tbo 

iron entered his soul and he died with the injury unforgotten if not 

untorgiven. ' 

One aspect of Garfield's candidacy was unprecedented. Never 

before, in the history of partisan contests in this country, had a successful Presidential candidate spoken freely on passing events 

and current issues. To attempt anythinO' of the kind soomed novel, 

rash, and even desperate. The older class of voters recalled the 

unfortunate Alabama letter, in which Mr. Clay was suppo ed to 

haYe signed his political death-warrant. They remembered also the 

hot-tempered e:fl'usion by which General Scott lost a large sha.re of 

his popularity before his nomination, and the unfortunate speeches 

which rapidly consumed the remainder. The younger voters bad seen Mr. Greeley in a series of vigorous and original addresses 

preparing the pathway for his own defeat. Unmindful of these 

warnings, unheeding the advice of friends, Garfield spoke to largtl 

crowds as he journeyed to and from New York in August, to a great multitude in that city, to delegations and deputations of every 

kind that called at Mentor during the summer and autumn. With 

innumerable critics, watchful and eager to catch a phra-se that might 

be turned into odium or ridicule, or a sentence that might be dis- torted to his own or his party's injury, Garfield did not trip or halt 

in any one of hi.s seventy speeches. This seems all the more remarkable when it is remembered that he did not write what he said, and 

yet spoke with such logical consecutiveness of thought and such admirable precision of phrase as to defy the accident of misreport and 

the malignity of misrepresentation. 

In the beginning of his Presidential life Garfield's experience did 

not yield him pleasure or satisfaction. The duties that engross so 

large a portion of the President'8 time were distasteful to him, and were unfavorably contra ted with his legislative work. "I havo 

been dealing all these years with ideas," he impatiently exclaimed one day, "and here I am dealing only with persons. I have been 

heretofore treating of the fundamental principles of government, and 

here I am considering all day whether A orB shall be appointed to 

this or that office." He was earnestly seeking some practical way of 

correcting the evils arising from the distribution of overgrown a,nd 

unwieldy patronage- evils ruways appreciated and often discussed 

by him. but whose magnitude had been more deeply impress) cl upon 

I 

) 
-

1882. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-HOUSE. 1469 

his mind since his accession to the Presidency. Had he lived, a com- prehensive improvement in the mode of appointment and in the ten- ure of office would have been proposed by him, and with the aid of 

Congress no doubt perfected. 

But, while many of the Executive duties were not grateful to him, 

he was assiduous and conscientious in their discharge. From the 

very outset he exhibited administrative talent of a high order. He 

grasped the helm of office with the hand of a master. In this 

respect indeed he constantly surprised many who were most intimately associated with him in the Government, and especially 

those who had feared that he might be lackin(J' in the executive 

faculty. His disposition of business was orderly and rapicl. His 

power of analysis, and his skill in classification, enabled him to dispatch a vast mass of detail with singular promptness and ease. His 

Cabinet meetings were admirably conducted. His clear presentation 

of official subjects, his well-considered suggestion of topics on which 

discussion was invited, his quick decision when all had been heard, 

combined to show a thoroughness of mental training as rare as his 

natural ability and his facile adaptation to a new and enlarged field 

oflabor. 

With perfect comprehension of all 'the inheritances of the war, 

with a cool calculation of the obstacles in his way, impelled always 

by a generous enthusiasm, Garfield conceived that much might be 

done by his administration towards restoring harmony between the 

different sections of the Union. He was anxious to go South and 

speak to the people. As early as April he had ineffectually endeavored to arrange for a trip toN ashville, whither he had been cordially 

invited, and he was again disappGinted a few weeks later to find 

that he could not go to Sonth Carolina to attend the centennial 

celebration of the victory of the Cowpens. But for the autumn he 

definitely counted on being present at t,hree memorable assemblies 

in the South, the celebration at Yorktown, the opening of the Cotton 

Exposition at Atlanta, and the meeting of the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. He was already turning over in his mind his 

address for each occasion, and the three taken together, he said to a friend, gave him the exact scope and verge which he needed. At 

Yorktown he would have before him the associations of a hundred 

years that bound the South and the North in the sacred memory of a common danger and a common victory. At Atlanta he would present 

the material interests and the industrial aevelopment which appealed 

to the. thrift and independence of every household, and which should 

unite the two sections by the instinct of self-interest and self-defense. 

At Chattanooga he would revive memories of the war only to show 

that after ali its disaster and all its suffering, the country was stronger and greater, the Union 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 his administration was high. ·with strong caution A.nd consenatism in his nature, he was in no danger of attempting rash experiments or of resorting to the empiricism of statesmanship. But he believed that renewed and closer 

attention should be given to questions affecting the material inter- ests and commercial prospects of fifty millions of people. He believed 

that our continental relations, exte.nsive and undeveloped as they a,re, involved responsibility, and could be cultivated into profitable 

friendship or be abandoned to harmful inclifference or lasting en- mity. He believed with equal confluence that an essential forerun- ner to a new era of national pro~ess must be a feeling of contentment in every section of the Umon, and a generous belief that the 

benefits and burdens of government would be common to all. Himself a conspicuous illustration of what ability and ambition may do 

under republican institutions, he loved his country with a passion of 

patriotic devotion, and every waking thought was given to her a-dvancement. He was an American in all his a pirations, and he 

looked to the destiny and influence of the United States with the 

philosophic composure of Jefferson and the demonstrative confidence 

of John Adams. 

The political events which disturbed the President's serenity for 

many weeks before that fateful day in J nly form an important chapter in his career, and, in his own judgment, involved questions of 

principle and of right which are vitally essential to the constitutional administration of the Federal Government. H would be out 

of place here and now to speak the language of controversy; bat the 

events referred to, however they may continue to be source of con- tention with others, have become, so far as Garfield is concerned, as much a matter of history as his heroism at Chickamauga or his 

illustrious service in the House. Detail is not needful, and personal 

antagonism shall not be rekindled by any word uttered to-day. 

The motives of those opposing him are not to be here adversely int erpreted nor their course harshly characterized. But of the dead 

President this is to be said, and said because his own speech is for- ever silenced and he can be no more heard except through the fidelity and the love of surviving friends: from the beginning to the end 

of the controversy he so much deplored1 the President was never for 

oue moment actuated by any motive ot gain to himself or of loss to 

other . Least of all men did he harbor revenge, rarely did he even show 

resentment, and malice was not in his nature. He was congenially employed only in the exchange of good offiees and the doing of 

kinuly deeds. There was not a,n hour, from the beginning of the trouble till the 

fatal shot entered his body, when the President woulu not gladly, 

for the sake of restoring harmony, have retraced any step he had 

taken if such retracing bad merely involved consequences personal 

to himself. The pride of consistency, or any supposed sense of humiliation t.hat might result from surrendering his position, had not a feather's weight with him. No man was ever less subject to such 

influences from within or from without. But after most anxious deliberation and the coolestsurHy of all the circumstances, he solemnly 

believed that the true prerogatives of the Executive were involved 

in the issue which ha-d been raised, and that he would be unfaithful to 

his supreme obHgation if he failed to maintain, in all their vigor, the 

constitutional rights and dignities of his great office. He believed 

t,his in all the convictions of conscience when in sound and vigorous 

health, and he believed it in his suffering and prostration in the last 

conscious thought which his wearied mind bestowed on t he transitory 

struggles of life. 

More than this nee<l not be said. Less than this could not be said. Justice to the dead, the highest obligation that devolves upon tho 

living, demands the declaration that in all the bearings of the subject, actual or possible, the PreBidentwas content in his mind, justified in his conscience, immovable in his conclusions. 

The religious element in Garfield's character was deep and earnest. 

In his early youth he espoused the faith of the Disciplei, a sect of 

that great Baptist Communion, which in different ecclesiastical establishments is so numerous and so influential throughout all parts of 

the United States. But the broa1lening tendency of his mind and 

his active spirit of inquiry were early apparent and carried him beyond the dogmas of sect and the restraints of association. In select- ing a college in which to continue his education he r ej ected Bethany, 

though presided over by Alexander Campbell, the greatest preacher 

of his church. His reasons were characteri tic : first, that Bethany 

leaned too heavily toward slavery; and, secend, that being himse1f a Disciple and the son of Disciple parents, he had little acquaintance 

with people of other beliefs, and he thought it would make him more liberal, quoting hls own words, both in his religions and general 

views, to go into a new circle and be under new influences. 

The liberal tendency which he anticipated as the r esult of wider culture was fully realized. He was emancipated from mere sectarian 

belief, and with eager interest pushed his investigations in the direction of modern progre sive thought. He followed with quickening 

step in the paths of exploration and speculation so fearles ·Iy trodden 

by Darwin, by Huxley, by Tyndall, and by other living scientists or the radical and advanced type. His own church, bindin(J' its di ciples by no formulated creed, but accepting the Old and New Testn.- ruents as the word of God with unbiased liberality of private interpretation, favored, if it did not stimulate, the spirit of investiga.tiou. 

Its members profess with sincerity, and profess only, to be of oue miml 

and one taith with those who immediately followed the Master. and 

who were fil'st called Christians at Antioch. 

But however high Garfield reasoned of "fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute," he was never separated from the Church of the 

Disciples in his affections and in his associations. For him it held 

the ark of the covenant. To him it was the gate of Heaven. The 

world of religious belief is full of solecisms and contradictions. A 

philosophic observer declares that men by the thousand will die in 

defense of a creed whose doctrines they do not comprehend and who o te:nets they habitually violate. It is equally true that men by the 

thousand will cling oo church or~anizations with instinctive and 

undying fidelity when their belief rn maturer years is radically different from that which inspired them as neophytes. 

But after this range of speculation, and this latitude of doubt, 

Garfield came back always with freshness and delight to the simpler 

instincts of religious faith, which, earliest implanted, longest sur- vive. Not many weeks before his assassination, walking on the banks 

of the Potomac with a friend, and oonversing on those topics of personal religion, concerning which noble natures have an unconquerable reserve~ he said that he found the Lord's Prayer and the simple 

petitions learned in infancy infinitely restful to him, not merely in 

their stated repetition, but in their casual and frequent recall as be 

went about the daily duties of life. Certain texts of scriptme had a very strong bold on his memory and his heart. He heard, while in 

Edinburgh some years ago, an eminent Scotch preacher who prefaced 

his sermon with reading the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the 

Romans, which book had been the subject of careful sto.dy with Garfield dw in~ all his religious life. He was greatly impressed by the 

elocution of the preacher and declared that it had imparted a new and 

deeper meaning to the majestic utterances of St. Paul. He referred 

often in after years t9 that memorable service, and dwelt with exaltation of feeling upon the radiant promise aud the assured hope with 

which the ~reat apostle of the Gentiles was "persuad~d that neither 

death, nor Jife, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 

present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 

creature, shall be able to separate us from the l0ve of God, which is 

in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

The crowning characteristic of General Garfield's religiOll8 opinions, as, indeed, of all his opinions, was his liberality. In all things be had chari ty. Tolerance was of his nature. He respected in others 

the qualities which he possessed himself-sincerity of conviction and 

frankness of expression. With him the iBquiry was not so much 

what a man believes, but does he believe it f The lines of his friend-
1470 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE. FEBRUARY 28, 

·ship and his confidenee encircled men of every creed, and men of no creed, and to the end of his life, on his ever-lengthening list of friends, were t-o he found the names of a pious Catholic priest and of an honest-minded and generous-hearted free-thinker. 

On the morning of Saturday, J nly second, the President was a con- tented and happy man-not in an ordinary degree, but joyfully, 

almost boyishly happy. On his way to the railroad station to which 

he drove slowly, in conscious enjoyment of the beautiful morning, 

with an nnwonted sense of leisure and a keen anticipation of pleasure, his talk wa-s all in the grateful and gratulatory vein. He felt 

that after four months of trial his administration wa-s strong in its 

grasp of affairs, strong in popular favor, and destined to grow 

stronger; that grave difficulties confronting him at his inauguration 

h:ul been safely passed ; that trouble lay behind him and not before 

him; that he was soon to meet the wife whom he loved, now recov- ering from an illness which had but lately disqnieterl and at times 

almost unnerved him; that he was going to his Alma Mater to renew the most cherished as ociations of his young manhood, and to ex- uhange greetings with tho e whose deepening interest had followed 

every step of his upward..progress from the day he entered upon his 

college course until he had attained the loftiest elevation in the gift 

of his countrymen. 

Surely, if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of 

this world, on that quiet July morning James A. Garfield may well 

l1ave been a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunteu him; no slightest premonition of danger cl0ucled his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant. One moment he stood erect, strong, 

confident in the years stretching peacefully out before him. The 

11ext he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless, doomed to weary weeks of 

torture, to silence, and the grave. 

Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in 

the very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the rei!. hand of 

murder, he was thrust from the full tide of this world's interest, from 

its hopes, its aspirations, its victories, into the visible presence of 

death-and he did not quail. Not alone for the one short moment in 

which, stunned and dazed, he could give up life, hardly aware of its 

relinquishment, but through days of deadly languor, through weeks 

of agony, that was not less agony because ~:;ilently borne, with clear 

Hight and calm courage, he looked into his open grave. 'Vhat blight 

and rnin met his a.nguished eyes, whose lips may tell-what brilliant, 

broken plan , what baffied, high ambitions, what sundering of strong, 

warm, manhood's friendships, what bitter rending of s-weet household 

ties! Behind him a proud, expectant nation, agreathostof sust.<tining 

friends, a cherished and happy mother, wearing the full, rich honors of 

her early toil and tear ; the wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in 

l1is; th~ little boys not yet emerged from childhood's day of frolic; the 

fair young dan~hter; the stmcly sons just springin~ into closest com- panionship, clauningevery day and every day rewarCLing a father's love 

and care; and in his heart the eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand . Before him, desolation and great darkness! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled with insta.nt, profound, and 

universal sympathy. 1\Iasterfnl in his mortal weakness, he became 

the center of a nation's love, enshrined in the prayers of a world. 

Bnt all the love and all the sympathy could not share with him his 

suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With unfaltering front he 

faced death. With unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above 

the demoniac hiss of the assa-ssin's bullet he heard the voice of God. 

With simple resignation he bowed to the divine decree. 

As the end c1rew near, his early craving for the sea returned. The 

stately mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital 

of pain, and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its 

oppressive, stifling air, from its homelessness and its hopelessness. 

Gently, silently, t.he love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the 

longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will, within i~ht of its heaving billows, within sound of its manifold voices. 

'Vith wan, fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he looked 

ont wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders; on its far sails, 

whitening in the morning light; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to break and die beneath the noonday sun; on the red clouds 

of evening, arching low to the horizon ; on the serene and shining 

pathway <'f the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes rea{f a mystic meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe that in the silence of the receding world he heard the great waves breaking on a further shore, and felt already upon his wasted 

brow the breath of the eternal morning. 

[The om tor on concluding was greeted with most hearty applause, 

in which the whole audience joined.] 

Rev. J. J. BULLOCK, the Chaplain of the Senate, pronounced the 

benediction, as follows: 

l\fay the peace of God, which passet·h all understanding, keep your 

minds and hearts in the knowledge and love of God and His Son, 

J esns Christ, our Lord . .And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, 

the Son, and the Holy Ghost, re t upon and remain with you, now and forevermore. .Amen. 

The President and his Cabinet the Chief-Jnstice and a sociate 

ju<;tices of the Supreme Court, and other invited gnests then retired 

fro!ll the Hall; after which the Senate returned to their Chaml1er. 

The House having been called to order, 

Mr. McKINLEY submitted the following resolutions; which were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, (the Senate concurring,) That the thanks of Congress be pre en ted to Hon. James G. Blaine, for the appropriate memorial address deli>ered by him on the life and services of James A brnm Garfield, late President of the United State , in the Representatives Hall, before both Houses of Congre s and their invited 

guests, on the 27th day of February, 1882; and that he be requested to furnish a copy for publication. 

Resolved, That the chainnen of the joint committee appointed to make the neces- sary arrangements to carry into efl'ect the resolations of this Congress in relation to the memmial exercise m honor of James Abram Garfield be reque ted to com- municate to Mr. Blaine the foregoin;> re olution, receive his answer thereto, and 

present the same to both How es of vongress. 

l\!r. McKINLEY. I now offer the resolution which I end to the 

Clerk's desk. 

The Clerk read as follows: 

~olvcd, That as a further testimonial of respect to the deceased President of 

the United States, the House do now adjourn. 

'The resolution was adopted; and thereupon (at one o'clock and 

fifty-five minutes 11. m.) the Hou e adjourned. 

SENATE. 

TUESD.A Y, February 28, 1882. 

Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. J. BULLOCK, D. D. 

The Journal of the proceedings of Friday last and of ye terday was read and approved. 

PETITIO:XS AND MEMORIALS. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore presented the memorial of the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, California, in favor of the incorporation of the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

He also presented resolutions of the Chicago Historical Society in 

favor of the purchase of the Franklin manuscripts offered for sale by 

Henry Stephens of London; which were referred to the Committee on the Library. 

l\fr. ANTHO.NY. I present the memorial of the city council of the 

city of Providence, Rhode Island, calling the attention of Congress 

to the importance and necessity of improving the harbor of that city. 

I had the honor to present some resolutions upon this subject the 

other day when I asked the attention of the Committee on Commerce 

to the importance of the subject, and I wish now again to call their 

attention to it. I move the reference of the memorial to the Committee on Commerce. 

The motiou was agreed to. 

l\!r. McDILL presented the petition of John Kennedy, late a private in Company H, First Regiment Wiscon~in Cavalry, praying to 

be relieved from the effects of an entry on themuster-outrolls charging him with desertion; which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs. 

Mr. FERRY presented resolutions of the Western Andersonville 

Survivors' As ociation of Chicago, lllinois, in favor of the passa<re 

of the bill (S. No. 1012) granting pensions to Union soldiers confin~d in so-called confederate prisons; which were referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

Mr. MILLER, of California, presented a joint resolution of the 

Legislature of California in favor of the pa sage of the bill to incorporate the Maritime Canal Company of Nicaragua; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. 

He also p1·esented a petition of citizens of California praying for an increase of compensation to keepers of life-saving stations on the 

Pacjfic coast; which was referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

Mr. MILLER, of New York, presented the petition of Edwin S. 

Gorham and 2,100 others, citizens of New York, praying for a reform 

in the method of appointment to the civil service; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Civil Service and Retrenchment. 

He also presented a petition of ex-Union soldiers, citizens of New 

York, prayjng for the pa-ssage of a bill to increase the pensions of all 

soldiers having lost an armor a leg; which was referred to the Committee on Pensions. 

Mr. CAMERON, of Wisconsin, presented a petition of citizens of 

Wisconsin, praying for legislation regulating charges for railroad 

transportation; which wa.s referred to the Committee on Commerce. 

Mr. SHERMAN presented a petition of citizens of Ohio, praying 

for such a modification and amendment, of the patent laws as will 

protect innocent purchasers of patented articles from the in1po itwn 

and collection of royalties on infringements made by other ; which was referred to the Committee on Patents. · 

Mr. COCKRELL presented apetitionofcitizens ofl\Ii souri, praying for the erection of a suitable public building at Jefferson City, 

Missouri; which was ordered to lie on the table. 

He also 1n·e·ented a memorial oftheMerch:m.ts' Exchange of Saint 

Lou:is, Missouri, in favor of the passage of a bill to increase the efficiency of the signal service; which was referred to the Committee on Military .Affairs. 

He also presented the memorial of the Saint Louis l\fedical Society 

in favor of the proposal of the Surgeon-General of the United States