Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1880-06-24
Garfield.

= -.
|, Gath in the Cincinnati Enquirer.
i. The writer has known General Gal
, field pretty well for thirteen years. III
! isa large, well fed, hale, ruddy, brow
: bearded man, weighing about %
pounds, with Ohio German colors, blu
eyes, military face, erect figure an,
saoulters, large back and thighs ant
: broad chest, and evidently bred In tI
country on farm. His large moutl
- fui! of strong teeth, his nose, chin
and brows are strongly pronounced
a large brain. with room for play o
thought and long application, rises higt
|. shove his clear, Discerning eyes. liz
semetines suggests country Samson
Strong beyond his knowledge, but un.
guarded as schoolboy. He pays little
attention TO the aifectation by which
seme men manage ptiblic opinion, and
has one kind Of behavior for all callers,
which is the most natural behavior al
hand. Strangers would think him a
little cold, aud mentally shy. On ac-
qpaintance he is seen to ne hearty above
everything, loving the life around him,
ms family, his friends, his State, ard
country. Loving sympathetic and
achieving people, and with large un-
pfOfessing seuse of the brotherhood Of
workers IN the field of progress, 1t was
the feeling of sympathy and The desire
70 impart which took him for chief !;
while as to the pulpit, or on the verge
o. IL full of all that he saw and ac-
qulred, he painted TO give it forth, after
| iE had passed through the alembic of
his mind. Endowed with a warm tenn
perament, coplOus expression, large,
wide seeing faculties, and superabund-
ant health, he could study all night aud
teach or lecture all DAY, and il was
providence that his neighbors discov-
ered he was too much Of a man to
| conceal In the pulpit. where his dOcility
and reverence had almost taken him.
They sent him to the State Legislature,
where he was when the war broke out,
and he Immediately went to the field,
where his courage and painstaking
parts, and love Of open air occupation,
and perfect freedom of self-assertion,
made him the delight of kosecrans and
George III. Thomas suecessively. lie
would 60 about any work they asked of
him, was unselflsh and enthusiastic,
and had steady, temperate habits, and
his large brain and reverence made
everything novel to him. There is an
entire absence of nonchalance or world
illness In his nature. He is never in
different, never vindictive. A base
action or ingratitude or cruelty may
make him sad, but does not provoke
retaliation, nor alter that faith IN men
or Providence which Is part of his
sound stomach and athletic head. Gar
field Is simple as child; to the SER
pent's wisdom he is q stranger. Hav-
ing no nse nor aptitude with the weap-
Ons of coarser natures, he often avoids
mere disputes, does not go to public
resorts where men are familiar or vul-
gar, and the walk from his home I'm
Washington to the Capitol. and an
occasional dinner cut, comprise his
life. The word public servant especial
ly applies to him. He has been the
drudge Of his State constituents, the
public, the public societies, the moral
societies, and of his party and country
since 1869. Aptitude for public debate
and public affairs are associated with a
military nature i'm him. He is ON a
broad scale schoolmaster of the range
of Gladstone, of Agassiz, of Gallatin. !
With as honest a heart as ever beat
above the competitors of sordid ambi-
tion. Gen. Garfield has so little of the
worldly wise in him that he is poor, |
and yet has been accused OF dishonesty. |
He has no capacity for investment, nor
the rapid solution of wealth, nor pro- |
found respect for the penny In and out |
of pound, and still is neither careless, |
improvident, nor dependent. The great |
consuming passion TO equal richer |
people, and live finely, and extend his |
anfea1 IN Inn
scheming or cheating. But be is not
suspicious nor high mettled man, and
30 he Is taken in sometimes, partly from |
his obliging, unrefusing disposition.
Men who were scheming imposed upon
eyed men of affairs. The people of
his district, who are quick to punish
public venality or detection. heard him
in his defense In 1873, and kept him in
Congress and held up his hand, and
hence he is by their unwayerlng sup
port for twenty-five years candidate
for President and national character. |
Since John Qaincy Adams no President !
has had Gariield's scholarship, which is
equally up to this age of wide facts.
The average American. pursuing money |
all day long, is now presented to man
who had invariably put the business of
others above his own, and worked for
that alleged nondescript-the public
gratitude--all his life. But he has not
labored without reward. The great
came to-day to as pure and
loving man as ever wished well OF any
body and pnt his shoulder to his neigh
bors wheel. Gardeld's big, hoyishs
heart Ia pained tonight with the weight
Of his obligation, affection, and respon-
sibility. To-day, as hundreds of tele-
grams come from everywhere, saying
kind, strong things to him--such mes
sages as only Americans IN their rapid,
good impulses pour upon q lucky
fricnd-he was with two volunteer
clerks in room opening and reading,
and suddenly his two boys sent him
fellows at school-and as he
read it he broke down and tried to
talk, but his voice chOked, and he could
not see for his tears. The clerks beganl
to biubber, too, and people to whom
they afterward told it. This sense Of
real great heart will be new to the
and will grow if it gets the
His wife was one of his
scholars In Ohio. Like him she is of
a New England family, transplanted to
Luc W oSt, puEC uC2tIcus UEatcy uudS-t
suming woman; the mother of seven
Or eight children, and, as he told me
only few weeks ago, had never, by
any remark, brought him into the least
trouble, while she was unstampedable
by any clamor.
He is the ablest public speaker in the
and the most serious and in
structive man on the stump. His in
stincts liberal and right, his courtesy,
noticeable In our politics; his aims
and his piety comes llby
He leads a farmers life, ali
the recess of Congress working like a
field hand, and restoring his mind by
resting 1t. If elected, he will give q
tone Of culture and intelligence to the
executive Office 1t has never yet had,
while he has no pedantry in his COM
position, and no conceit whatever.
Gen. Garfield may be worth $25 900, or
q little more than Mr.. Lincoln was
when he took the office. His old moth