The Columbus journal., 1880-12-08
Called ON Garfield.

SalIeu On "arhrfu.
CLEVELAND. December 2.-Ohio's
twenty-five electors accompanied by
Gov. Foster, Secretary of State
Barnes, State Treasurer Turney and
other officials visited Mentor this
morning to pay a formal call upon
Gen. Garfield.
During the visit in response TO the
address of Gen. Grosvenor, Garfield
addressed the electors as follows:
| am deeply grateful to you for
this call and these personal and pub
lie congratulations. If | were TO
look upon the late campaign and the
result merely in the light of per-
sonal struggle and personal sue
cess it would probably be as graf
flying as anything could be in the
history of politics. If my own
conduct during the campaign has in
anyway been a help and strength to
our cause | am glad. Ii is not al
ways an easy thing to behave well.
If, under trying circumstances. my
behavior as a candidate for the pres
idency has met your approval | am
greatly gratified, but the larger sub
ject of your congratulations to the
country on the triumph of the re-
publican party, opens a theme too
vast for me to enter upon now. |
venture, however, TO mention a re-
Election which has occurred TO me
in reference to the election OF yes
terday. | suppose that no political
event has occurred i'm all the course
of the contest since the early spring
which caused so little excitement
and indeed so little public observa-
ton as the presidential election
which was held yesterday at mid
day. The American people paid
but little attention to the details of
the real presidential election, and for
a very significant reason. Although
you and all members of the electo-
raj colleges had an absolute consti-
tutional and technical right to vote
for anybody you chose, and though
no written law directed or suggest
ed your choice, yet every American
knew that an august sovereign of
this republic, 100000 of voters, on
an early day i'm November, had pro-
nounced the omnipotent fiat of
choice and that the sovereign, as
suming as done that which he had
ordered to be done, entertained no
doubt that his will would be i'm
plicitly obeyed by all colleges in all
states. That is why the people were
so serenely quiet yesterday. They
had never yet found an American
who had failed to keep his trust as
presidential electOr. From this
thought | draw this lesson: that
when that OmnipOtent sovereign,
the American people, speaks to one
man and orders him to do the duty,
that a man may under the most
solemn obligations of duty execute
those that the God of the Universe
might impose upon him. Yester-
day, through your votes, and the |
votes of others in the various states |
in the Union, it is probable that the |
returns will show that our great po
litical sovereign had laid his COM
mands upon me. If he has done so,
| am as bound by his will and his |
great inspiration and purpose as
could he bound by any cOnsidera-
ton that this earth could impose on
any human being. In that presence,
therefore, | am awed by the maj
esty and authority of such a COM
mand. In SO far as | can interpret |
the best aspirations and purposes of
our august sovereign, ! shall seek to
realize them. You and |, and those
who have acted with us in years
past, believe that our sovereign loves
liberty, and desires for all its inhab-
itants of the republic peace and
under the sway of just
ana equal laws. Gentlemen, / thank
you for this visit, for this welcome,
for the suggestions that your pres
ence and your words bring, and the
hope that you have expressed i'm the
lrduOus and great work before us
that we may maintain the standard
Of our nationality and promote all
hat is good and worthy in this
and that during the coming
four years we may raise just as large
4 crop of peace, prosperity, justice,
liberty and culture as it is possible
FOr fOrty-nine millions of people to
raise.
Gov. Foster was master Of cere-
presenting visitors to Gen.
After an interchange of
greeting, two hours were passed in
Informal social intercourse, when
he company returned here and dis
,ersed for their homes, except Gov.
Foster, who remained at Mentor.