Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-06-12
MiseelIaneous. g
GARRISON.
Euiogy by Wendell Phillips.

The L~s.os Of the Lsb~rasor'. life.
The following Is the address delivered
by Wendell Phillips a; the funeral Of vii
liam Lloyd Garrison:
IL has been well said and repeated that
we are not here 10 weep. and neither are
We here TO praise. No life closes without
sadness Death, after all, no matter wha,
hope or what usefulness surrounds IL, is
one terrible mystery. We never part hands
that have been clasped lifelong iu loving
tenderness that the hour is not sad but xe
do not come here 10 weep. In other mo
ments. under other roofs. we can clasp 10
tender aud loving sympathy the hands
whose rooi-iree Is so sadly bereaved. But
In their wish, IN the spirit of the great life
which we contemplate. this hour Is for the
utterance OF q lesson; this hour Is given to
contemplate grand example. a rich inner
Hancc, noble life worihlly ended. This
Is the reason that you come together. no, 10
friend YOU hsssi siHs ssIf IfiR@ass @h, n.teIy to the
will miss from daily life. but TO remember
the grand lesson Of that career, to speak to
each other and TO emphasize what the life
teaches; 10 tell IL In the hearing OF those
whose immature youth did not witness that
untiring effort; In their hearing TO construc
the meaning OF the great name which Is
borne worldwide. and tell them why OH
both sides the ocean the news OF his death
is matter OF interest TO every lover of bis
race. As my friend said we have no right
10 be silent Those OF US who stood near
him, even during q portion Of his lie, who
witnessed the secret springs OF his action,
the consistent inward and outward essence
OF his life. have no right TO be silent. The
largest contribution that will ever be made
ttt sfpuf. a.. ha ~
the working of our institutions will be the
picture of his career. lie sounded the
depths OF the weakness, he proved the ul-
Innate strength OF republican Institutions;
he gave us TO know the perils that con-
fronted US; he taught us TO rally the
strength that lies hid.
To my mind there are three peculiarly
remarkable elements In his career. One Is
singular among great men. Out Of his own
unaided moral existence came the motive
which consecrated himself 10 a great idea.
Ii confronted him In very youth. We mar
vel at the words that my friend has quoted.
Where were they uttered; By mature lips,
on the Senate floor. by man to whom the
nation listened: Uttered by q stripping.
twenty-ihree or four years old, In the very
bloom Of his youth Other men ripen grad
ually. The youngest OF the great names
thirty and forty when his irst anti-slavery
word was uttered. The man was In jail
! for his opinions when he was just twenty
three. lie had confronted nation in the
very bloom of his youth. II could be said
OF him more than Of any other American
| leader thatI chance now TO remember in
| any epoch, that he did not need circum-
stances. outside influence, some great preg-
nsnt event 10 press him into service, TO
provoke him into thought, to kindle him
into enthusiasm. His moral nature is as
marvellous as the intellect OF Pascal. 1t
seemed to be born fully equipped. When |
think that At some twenty-five years old,
while Christianity and craftsmanship, the
experience. the genius OF the land, were
wandering Ia the desert, aghast, amazed
| aud confounded over great evil, this boy
| sounded, found, invented the talisman.
Immediate. unconditional emancipation OF
the slave" You may say he borrowed it
true enough from the lips of woman on
the other side of the Atlantic, but he was
the only American, just on the edge of life,
whose nature seemed SO perfectly open to
the truth that 1t answered to the fsr.off
bugle note, and wrote 1t instantly as a
guide TO the people.
Young men, you have no conception OF
the miracle OF the insight; for il lie not given
you 10 remember with any vividDess the
blackness Of the darkness OF ignorance and
Indifference that brooded over what was
called the moral element of the American
people. When think of him, as Melauc-
thon said of Luther, "day BY dav grows
the wonder fresh'' at the largeness Of the
moral and intellectual life that God gave
him at the very opening. Then you hear
that boys lips announcing the statesmen
| like solution. written In words that abso-
lutely blinded the people-the great God
given solution OF what had eonfounded the
people. blinded the churches and made
statesmen dumb. With equal single-heart,
ed devotion. 10 words that have been SO
often quoted, a few years afterward; with
those dungeon doors behind him. he enters
on his career. | marvel again at the 10.
stinctive ssgacity. Archimides said, "Give
me something and will move the world.
O'Connell leaned back on three millions ol
Irshmen. all sdame With sympathy. Cob.
den's hands were held up By the whole
manufacturing interest Of Great Britain
his hands were foil Of the wealth OF the
middle classes OF the country, and behind
him in fair proportions stood the religions
convictions OF England. Marvellous as va,
their agitation. as you gaze upon 1t In iti
successive stages and analyze it, you are
astonished al what they invented for tools
Aud yet this boy stood alone. utterly alOns
at first. There was no sympathy any
where; his hands we're empty. No mattel
II he starr ed on bread and water. be coul(
command the nse OF types, that WAS oil
Trade endeavored To crush him; the intel
lectasl life Of America disowned him.
Ny friend Weld has said the Church wai
4 one thick cloud looming over him In th,
| darknese Out of II thundered and liaht