Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-09-28

recount his deeds, statesmen profit by hi
example and brighter and brighter will hi.
reputation grow as his true character Ii
understood by mankind. When sufficient
time shall have elapsed to enable the PEG.
pie to review his life and thoroughly ap.
preciate his services; when partisan yea
shall have given place to the facts OF history
and the people OF the nation realize the
benefits he has conferred upon his coun-
try. and the wisdom and justice Of his
policy as Chief Executive OF the United
States, then, and not till then can his
eulogy be fifty pronounced or fully appre-
ciated by the people. To-day a united peo-
pie stand sorrowful and depressed. The
land is draped in mourning, the busy hum
Of industry is hushed and silent, private
and public business suspended, while grief
stricken the Nation is testifying its re-
spect for the man, and their grief at his loss.
As q son he was dutiful and affectionate;
as a husband and father, kind, considerate
and loving; as q teacher, painstaking and
patient; as a lawyer he was faithful to his
trust; as q soldier, brave and chivalric; as
a statesman he at once took a prominent po-
sition in the councils Of the Nation and for
twenty years was an acknowledged leader,
holding place in the front ranks Of the
worlds greatest thinkers and actors. As
Chief Executive he was beloved and es-
teemed by all the just in every part Of this
broad land. During his brief Admins
tration he did more to pacify the country,
restore tranquility and heal the cruel
scars that war had inflicted than was pre-
viously done since the clash of arms ceased
within our borders. As a scholar he had
few equals. In every walk in life, in every
business he ever took part he was q great
and wonderful man. As al orator he was
sublimely grand, brilliant, eloquent and
convincing. OF large physique, his mind
was great in proportion to his structure.
l shall never forget-no one who had
the pleasure Of hearing him can ever for
get the man, the manner or the utter
ances when he placed John Sherman in
nomination in the Chicago Convention in
June, 1880. That speech forced friend
and foe to admit the greatness Of James
A.. Garfield. That speech was 30 great, 80
appropriate, SO eloquent, so effective, that it
compelled the convention to take him
from the floor and nominate him for the
position that he had 80 zeal0usly struggled
to obtain for his friend.
Conkling, a man of giant mold, an
Adonis in form and feature, cold, disdain-
full, yet eloquent as Cicero, as polished as
Chesterfield and as forcible as Webster,
was the leader of the delegation favoring
the nomination of General Grant. The
struggle had been long and bitterly con-
tested. Every delegate was earnestly striv-
ing to secure the success Of his favorite.
Garfield was Chairman of the Ohio dele
cation and the leader of the forces Of
Sherman. Many eminent men were there,
but there were two men who, under the cir
cumstances, were the admitted chieftains in
Al.k f11~lI.-- - 0.-cr1
After several days hard work in pre-
liminary maneuvering for success, the
roll Of States was called for the nomina-
ton of candidates. When New York was
called Conkling rose, and leaving the New
York delegation he walked with the firm
ness of a lion in his native jungles to
the stand. The man, the subject and the
occasion were such as to insure an effort
as great and eloquent as man could make.
Expectations had pictured his speech as
surprisingly eloquent, but the anticipa-
ton had not been as high as the delivery
of the speech justified it's being. You
have all read that mastery production.
For purity of diction, beauty Of style and
brevity Of statement it is one of the most
remarkable speeches ever delivered by
man. OF itself, it was sufficient to make
the name and fame Of Roscoe Conkling as
lasting as time. The effect of the speech
was such that the audience Of over $4,000
people were rendered wild and frenzied
with excitement for over 80 minutes.
Cheer followed cheer, and as Conkling
descended from the table from which he
had spoken, 1t seemed that Grants nomi-
nation was inevitable, and there seemed to
be no way to avoid 1t or answer Conkling.
I knew Garfield was eloquent; / had
faith in the mans genius, but I feared he
had not the power to overcome the effect
Of the speech Of Conkling, for it had acted
like magic upon all who heard it. Stout
men cried and laughed, sobbed and cheered
by turns, and for the moment the hearts
OF the opposition were sad and downcast,
and the Grant men radiant and confident.
Could the magic spell be overcomeP I
thought not. Vain, useless fears There
was no reason for alarm. The eloquence
Of Conkling served only az an incentive
to the mastery powers Of Garfield. When
Ohio was called he arose from his seat and
with manly step approached the platform,
and mounted upon the same table on
which Conkling had spoken. The animal
magnetism Of Conkling was great. but
that Of Garfield was greater. The elo-
quence OF Conkling was grandly beautiful,
his periods full and rounded. his voice
aSCR AL IL bbIA btaAASof ao Aa~o
nifcent, but the ~eloquence Of Garfield
was sublime beyond description; language
cannot describe its effect. From the first
sentence that he uttered his audience was
spell. bound. Men held their breath to
listen for fear that q word should be un-
heard. The thunders OF the storm could
not have been heard when he began ; the
silence OF the desert could not surpass
that which his first sentence produced in
that vast audience. Before he had spoken
three minutes the speech Of Conkling had
been answered, its effect obliterated and
the people again freed from its spell.
Never was Q candidate more ably or faith
fully served than John Sherman was by
Garfield ct that time and throughout the
entire convention. The charge that he
sought the nomination for himself Is a
falsehood, rs base as it is unfounded.
nominated without requesting it; in fact,
after he had honestly and fully declined
the honor. But after that speech was de-
livered the fates compelled his nomina-
ton. That speech is now a part OF his
tory; its equal l have never heard or read.
II Conkling is eloquent, Garfield was so
in q superlative way. 1t is an honor to a
nation to. have produced from the ranks OF
the laboring classes so grand and
great q man as james Abram Garfield.
His political principles were interviewer
with his very spirit; they were not as
sumed to serve an interested purpose, to
be laid aside when he descended from the
rostrum and resumed when he sought to
accomplish an object. No, they were
deeply seated in his heart, and emanated
from its profound depths. The more his
country was environed by dangers, the
| more steady was his resolution. Nothing
ever impaired the truth and integrity of
his feelings, or weakened his generous
| convictions. 1t was undertaking irmness,
| his disdain OF all injustice. that made him
| the frst OF statesmen and orators. In this
Law the substance of his power, the pri-
mary foundation Of his superiority. The
mystery Of his mighty influence lay in his
honesty, and that gave warmth and tone