The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-01 00:00:00

OBSERVANCE IN LONDON.

In London, on Monday, there were general manifestations
cf sympathy with the American people. The Stock Ex-
change was closed at one o'clock, many shops were partially
shut, several hotels showed flags half-mast high, and at
private places of business and private residences there were
evidences of the observance of the occasion. At the royal
palaces, the Mansion House, and the clubs the blinds were
drawn. In the streets an unusual number of persons were
seen dressed in mourning, and even omnibus drivers and
draymen marked the day by fastening a piece of crape or
ribbon to their whips or harness. As a specimen of the ex-
pressions of sympathy at private houses, it may be mentioned
that at a house in High•street, Holborn, the portrait of the
late President was displayed in a black border, and sur-
rounded with festoons of black and white. Above the por-
trait was the following inscription
"To one of Nature's noblemen, James A. Garfield, Presi-
dent of the United States," and beneath the portrait a
table i bearing the words :—" At thirteen years a poor
boy in a canal boat who could not read, at fifty a great
uncrowned monarch, second to none on earth."
Many of the ships in the river and the docks hoisted their
ensigns to the mainyards as a funeral honour. At several
churches the death-bell was tolled. This was noticeably the
case at the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate, an ancient
parish church, much visited by Americans, where lie
the remains of Milton, to whose memory a handsome
marble monument is erected, and also those of Milton's
father, of Fox, the martyrologist, and other worthies.
At the ceremony of mounting the guard at the Horse Guards
the band of the Grenadier Guards played the "Dead March"
In Saul. At the Crystal Palace the American standard was
hoisted at half-mast, and the orchestra and organ com-
menced the musical performances with the "Dead March."
At the afternoon service in Westminster Abbey the prayers
of the congregation were requested for the widow and family
o f the late President.

A memorial service was held on Monday night at the
church of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London. Half an hour
before the time appointed, every available seat in the
spacious edifice was occupied. It had been announced that
the body of the church would be set apart for Americans,
the general public being accommodated in the extensive
galleries, and this arrangement was as far as possible
adhered to, consistently with the principles of free ad-
mission. Many scores of ladies and gentlemen, unable
to secure seats, were content to stand, and hundreds
were unable even to gain admission to the crowded
building. A beautiful floral cross of pure white had
been placed In front of the altar, and a wreath on the
face of the pulpit. Apart from this there was no attempt at
decoration or display. Of those present a large proportion
were attired in mourning, and the bearing of the whole con-
gregation was hushed and reverent in the extreme. The
United States Minister (Mr. Lowell) and his family, with the
other members of the Legation, attended, as did a large
number of distinguished American residents and visitors.
An address was delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
who after dwelling on the intense sorrow which had been
manifested in this country at President Garfield's death,
concluded by saying : " Families disunited are said
often to be brought together by some family sorrow.
Thank God we are not disunited, but we may be brought
better to understand and love each other by our union
in this common sorrow. There are many bonds that keep
us together—the same blood, the same tongue, the privilege
of enjoying each other's literature, whilst each lends the aid
of its science to develop the industries, the prosperity, and
the happiness of both. We have learnt to appreciate each
other. We know here in England your boundless hospitality
shown to ourselves or our sons who visit you; but our
union above all must be based on our common Christianity.
To us the Almighty has committed beyond the trust Ile
has given to any other nations of the world, to carry
through the boundaries of the human race civilisation based
on Christianity. Let us learn that that union is the only
true union to keep us really together in the dark ages that
may be in store for the human race; that family life, social
life, political life must all have its cement in the gospel.
Some may think that from this country there goes forth at
times an uncertain sound as to religion, and that we receive
uncertain sounds over the Atlantic trim our brethren there,
but the heart of both nations, thank God, is still truly
Christian."

The expressions of sympathy with the people of the
United States and with Mrs. Garfield in her bereave-
ment were both deep and universal throughout the
United Kingdom on Monday. In cathedral cities
special services were performed; in the numerous ports
of the country the ships had their flags half-mast high;
public bodies adjourned their meetings after passing
resolutions of condolence, and householders in most
cities of the kingdom exhibited the usual signs of
mourning. At Windsor the Governor of the Castle
and other Court officials attended a service at St.
George's Chapel.
Sympathy with the American nation was also ex-
pressed in every capital in Europe.

The President's venerable mother is at Cleveland, greatly
depressed. Fears are expressed that she will not long sur-
vive.

Is solemn to the last degree.

None named him but to praise."
I shall not retrace the story of his life, but there is
nothing that occurs to me so perfect in its completeness
since the Biblical story of Joseph. The poor lad who at 13
Could not read dies at 60, the tenant of an office second
in dignity to none on earth, and the world mourns his loss
as that of a personal relative. I find the word coming
back to ray lips in spite of me, "He was so human." An
example of it was his kissine. his v cerable mother on the
day of his inauguration. It was criticized, I remember
hearing at the time, as a sin against good taste. I thought
then and think now that if we had found the story in
Plutarch we should have thought no worse of the hero of
it. (Cheers.) It was this pliability of his to the impulse of
unconventional feeling that endeared him BO much to his
kind. Among the many stories that have been sent me,
illustrating the sorrow so universally felt here, none have
touched me so much as these two :—An old gardener said to
his mistress, "Oh, ma'am, we felt somehow as if he belonged
to us;" and in a little village on the coast, where an evange-
list held nightly services on the beach, prayer was offered
regularly for the recovery of the President, and the weather-
beaten fishermen who stood around the preacher with
bowed, uncovered heads, fervently responded, "Amen."
You will also be interested to know that the benevolent
Sir Moses Monteflore, now in his 97th year, telegraphed
last week to Palestine to request that prayers might be
offered for the President in the synagogues of the four holy
cities. It was no common man who could call forth, and
justly call forth, an emotion so universal, an interest so
sincere and so human. I said that this was no place for
eulogy. They who deserve eulogy do not need it, and they
who deserve it not are diminished by it. The dead at
least can bear the truth and have a right to that highest
service of human speech. We are not called upon here to
define Garfield's place among the memorable of mankind.
A great man is made up of qualities that meet or make
great occasions. We may surely say of him that the great
qualities were there, and were always adequate to the need;
though less fortunate than Lincoln, his career was snapped
short just as they were about to be tested by the supreme
trial of creative statesmanship. We believe tha the would
have stood the test, and we have good reason for our faith. ,
For this is certainly true of him, that a life mere strenuous,
a life of more constantly heightening tendency of fulfil.
ment. of more salutary and invigorating example, has not
been lived in a country that is rich in instances of such.
Well may we be proud of him, this brother of ours, recog-
nised also as a brother wherever men honour what is praise-
worthy in man. Well may we thank God for him, and love
more the country that could produce and appreciate him.
(Cheers.) Well may we sorrow for his loss, but not so those
without hope. Great as the loss is—and the loss of
faculties trained like his is the hardest of all to replace—
yet we should show a want of faith in our country if we
called it irreparable. Three times within living memory
' has the Vice-President succeeded to the presidential
function without shock to our system, without detriment
to our national honour, and without cheek to our prosperity.
, It would be an indignity to discuss here the character of
him who is now our chief magistrate' and who, more than
any'one," it is'safe to say, has felt the pain of this blow.
lint there is no indecorum in wing what is known to all,
that he is a gentleman of culture, of admittedly 1)401
intelligence, of unimpeachable character, of proved ad-
tninistrative ability, and that he inters on his high duties
with a full sense of what such a succession implies.
(Cheers.) lam not one of those who believe that democracy
any more than any other form of government will go of
itself. lam not a believer in perpetual motion in politics
any more than in mechanics, but in common with all of you,
I have an imperturbable faith in the honesty, the intel-
ligence and the good sense of the American people, and in
the destiny of the American Republic. (Loud cheers.)
The first resolution, which was presented by General
Merritt, was as follows :—" That in the death of President
Garfield we have to deplore alike a great public misfortune
and a loss personal to each of us; that the crime of
political murder, which in all instar.ces we abhor, has in
this instance, without a conceivable motive or a single
apologist, plunged a nation in lasting sorrow, taken from
us a wise, firm, beloved chief magistrate of proved capacity
for rule • and bereaved us of a fellow citizen, who leaves
to Americans for all time to come an example of the
simple manliness of a sincere life' of a death heroic in
patient fortitude, and the priceless inheritance of a memory
without stain."
The next resolution was moved in an eloquent speech by
the Rev. Dr. Channing in the following terms :—" That we
respectfully entreat the mother and widow of our lamented
President to accept this all inadequate expression of our
sympathy; and we ask to be permitted to offer a tribute of
reverent admiration for the pure influence which trained a
son to these high qualities, and for the womanly constancy
and courage, and more than wifely devotion with which, to
the end, Mrs. Garfield sustained the strength and lightened
the sufferings of her husband."

This resolution, like the first, was carried by acclamation,
as was also a third, moved by Mr. J. S. Morgap, and
seconded by Mr. Moncure Conway, in the following terms:
—" That we desire to signify our grateful sense of the
affectionate solicitude of which the Queen and people of
this country have, during the whole period of the Presi-
dent's Buffering and death, given so many varied and touch-
ing proofs; that they have endeared to us afresh the land of
our forefathers, and have laid us under an obligation of
brotherly goodwill which we can never sufficiently acknow-
ledge and never forget."
It was then formally resolved—" That these resoluti,
be sent to Mrs. Garfield, and that the Minister of I
United States be requested to communicate them to oth
as he may think proper."

ions
the
ters

The Times, in a leader noticing the meeting at Exeter Hall,
pervaded the speeches at Exeter Hall on Saturday. At all
sseanysti:mentEnogflilishearmetyn goodwill uo t
tfoa i lt
hteoi r oobws enr vceo
utnh
ter
yg ewnheircahl
times will words such as these be welcome. We think. of
America as a new world people by our OWD race, and we
find with pleasure that Americans have not yet forgotten
'the old home,' and that they do not find themselves aliens
in it. There is muoh in the American people that English-
men both respect and like. There may, perhaps, be
a little of self-love and of self-esteem in this matter.
What we respect and like are what we believe
we can recognize as hereditary traits. When Mr.
Lowell, therefore, says that he has an imperturbable
faith in the honesty, the intelligence, and the good sense of
the American people and in the destiny of the American
Republic, we find ourselves entirely at one with him. To a
nation whch is thus endued, no personal loss, however great,
can be irreparable. The same shock has been felt before,
under circumstances by far more trying, and yet no lasting
mischief has come from it. It will be the same as long as
the Anglo-Saxon race remains true to itself, and possesses
the capacity for self-government which it took with it when
it left the old country, and which it has retained ever since.
'Let us be one, says Dr. Channing. We are one, will be the
reply. You have changed your sky, ccelum non animum."

THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW.

In London on Saturday night the third annual
dinner of the officers who took part in the relief of
Lucknow under Generals Outram and Havelock was
given at the Albion Tavern, Aldersgate-street.
_ _

Lord Napier of Magdala presided, and there were
also present Lieutenant-Colonel Batting, Major-
General J. Gordon, Captain J. Robertson, Lieutenant-
Colonel Blake, Major-General Dodgson, Captain P. L.
Phipps, Colonel Neville Shute, Colonel Delaphosse,
Colonel Spurgin, Lieutenant-General Olpherts, V.C.,
Colonel Barker, General Willis, Major Woolhouse,
Colonel Stewart, and Major Savory. Each member
of the company wore the colours of the riband belong-
ing to the Indian Mutiny medal.
- - -

After the loyal toasts the Chairman said it was his
duty to propose a tribute to the memory of their de-
parted comrades, coupled with the names of their
commanders, Generals Havelock and Outram and
Brigadier Neil. He had served under General Outram
when he commenced his march to Cawnpore. He was
requested to convey to General Outram that the Go-
vernment expected that he would lead the forces to
Lucknow. The General appeared to be much distressed
about it, and was angry with him for having been the
medium of the message. Suddenly he felt some one
pull him by the elbow, and the General said, "I have
it now; I will go in my political capacity." The Gene-
ral was struck with distress at the idea of having to
fill the place of Generid Havelock, so much so that he
could scarcely speak a word. All who were connected
with the conflict must remember the generous nature
of Sir James Outram ; how anxious he was to pre-
serve and reserve his soldiers as far as he could. He
always endeavoured to give them every comfort he
possibly could until the very moment they were
wanted for service. They must all remember the de-
termination of General Havelock ; how sternly he
dealt with himself, and how determined he was to force
his way through to Lucknow. On one occasion there
had been some momentary coolness between General
Havelock and himself ; but while he (the speaker) was
preparing some holes for the mines, and his hand
were all black and greasy, the General held out his
hand and insisted on shaking hands with him. Most
of them, too, would remember the cool determination
of Nell. He marched on to Lucknow with that
bravery which marked his career to the end. He was
quietly and calmly watching the advance of the troops
at the very moment when he was struck. Memories
of such men as those were their greatest treasures—
examples for future generations of soldiers. They
could not do better than preserve, in the most sacred
manner, the memories of those great men and of those
brave comrades who fell nobly in the performance of
their duty. He asked them to drink to the memory of
their departed comrades.
The toast was drunk in solemn silence.

Lieutenant-General Olpherts proposed the health of
their living, though absent comrades; and Major
Savory responded to the toast of "The Hou. Secre-
tary," and the proceedings closed with "The Health
of the Chairman," which was cordially received.