The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-09-29

ity, civil and religious liberty. Through
him flowed to the people, us living
stream, all the blessings of our free
Institutions. Not a man or woman in
this house, nay, in this broad land, can
be arrested on the edict of any IL an not
4 house can be searched without warrant
duly procured not a soldier can be quar-
tered on the citizen. The gates of every
prison open ut the summons of our habeas
corpus act, which gives the accused pa
tent hearing and reasonable bail. Every
citizen accused of crime has the right to
4 trial by IA jury of his neighbors-the
right of counsel, and must be confront ed
by the witnesses against him. Every
dollar OF tax land upon your property, or
calling, must be voted by the representa-
tives of the people. These are some OF
the jewels glitterng in the crown oil
American liberty, for which our fore
fathers gave their substance, and many OF
them their lives, in a long and weary
struggle with Great Britain They toiled
on and fought on with the halter, as il
were. about their necks.
sometimes with the sun of hope com.
pletely Obscured by the clouds of adver-
sity. until these great principles were
firmly engrafted in the charter of our lib
critics. The blessings of these great
privileges are distilled among us like
the dews ofheaven. They warm us and
sustain us, like the air we breathe and
Gods own sunlight. They enter into the
very marrow of our moral and intellect
ual growth and become part of our be-
ing for who is not the child of circum.
stances? Who has not felt that, instead
of being free and proud American, he
might have been the veriest slave,
dwarfed in soul and body almost to the
level of the brute?
Truly ours is an institutional govern.
ment. Its course is regulated by law
The underlying idea OF the assassin
of the president was to punish him fol
the exercise of that fair and just discre-
ton in the appointment to office, with
which he was invested. 1t Is useless to
look after or analyZe the other base mo-
tives that prompted the felon. We are
concerned to-day more with the results
with the tendency OF such n crime and
the effect il threatens to our institutions
Every officer in this government, state
or national, is but the agent of the peo
pie, clothed with the power of the peO
pie. When he is stricken they are
wounded. When force dictates hi:
course, or Furnishes the exercise of hi:
free judgment, our institutions have
more than failed OF their purpose. They
are degraded and trampled under thu
feet OF the assassin. Every man and wo
man in the nited States instlnctively
feels that the tate of the president il
linked with his or her own fortunes; tina
it has a deeper and broader Significance
than party politics. From the lakes tt
the Gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacifi,
ocean, the people assemble to-day, no
merely with cypress and tears, but with
deep determination that the highest Off
Ger OF this government shall be free, tina
the pistol and dagger shall not thwart o
bias his judgment; that this govern
ment shall not sink to the level of Rome
when a debsuched Pretorian guar(
made and unmade her emperOrs.
James A. Garfield was born at Orange
in the state of Ohio, on the nineteenth
of November, 1881. He entered William
college in 1854, where he graduated il
1856. He took an active part i'll the can
vass for president between Buchanan
and Fremont. In 1859 he was elected tt
the state senate of Ohio on the Republi
can ticket. At the beginning of the wa
between the north and south he warmly
espoUsed the cause of the former and wa
commissioned Northumberland colonel
and brigadier-generall IN rapid succession
He was elected to congress from the nine
teenth Ohio district in October, 1862, bu
renamed in the field until after the hart
fought battles of Chickamauga and Look
out Mountain.
He resigned his commission and tool
his seat in congress in December, 1868
He was elected senator of the UEIteC
States from Ohio in 1880 for the loni
term, beginning March the 4th, 1881. Ii
1880 he was elected president of tn
United States and took his seat las
March. He was a member of the lowe
house of congress, FROM the time he en-
tered that body in 1868, until he wa
sworn in to the Office of president.
&c init Il
slavery agitation which eliminated In tn
great civil war.
AS military chieftain his career wa
respectable. 1t was, however, in tn
lower house of congress that his lif
work was performed. 1t was there tina
he won that solid reputation which Dor
him on to the senate OF the United State
and presidency. When he entered tina
great tribunal of the people, which ha,
fostered the genius of Clay and most o
| the great men of our country, the civi
war was at its height, more than million
of men were in the field. The north an
south had closed with a death grapple
and each was shedding it's best blood lik
water for the cause it had SO hearth
espOused, and staked with the God o
battles. Great occasions make greatmeI
In the civil department of government
thousand eXigencies tested the fortitude
the foresight and craftsmanship of tn
cabinet and congress. The courage, tn
education and mental reach of CARTEL
eminently fitted him for such a stage. II
not only acquainted himself with credi
but soon passed to leadership and becam
a power in that body. 1t was not his fol
| tune to found nation or any grea
system of law. He never, like William o
Orange, stood the lone and solitary bul
| wark of his country's liberties, agains
| which the fury of the Spanish inquisitio
and all the arbitrary power of Philip II
dashed themselves in vain for long an
| bloody years. He never, like Scion an
LycuIgus, gave laws to the world. H
| never, like Louis XIV, or the presen
car OF Russia, was the state. He never
like Washington, carried the liberties o
his country-yea, its very existence, i
| the hollow OF his hand. ALI the honor o
| founding thfs government had been wo
| before his day. All the glory of estat
| fishing our institutions belongs to GU
| forefathers of a hundred years ago. w
/ trust 1t may grow more luminous wit
the passing years, and increase with tn
growth of this great and expanding N,
| ton. They laid the foundations broa
and deep, and gave US institutional, civ
and religious liberty. The clear an
beautiful waters of life that flow throug
the channels of our institutions will nc
stagnate at the word of any despot living
| They will not cease to flow at the death {
| any American citizen, however eminen
The genius of our country is peace
All that American statesmen can do, Q
have been able to do, is to build on tn
foundations that have been laid by til
fathers of this republic. They ma
strengthen and confirm our patriotism
and love of our institutions. They ma
extend our commerce, foster our agricu
ture and manufactures, regulate on
finance, and keep honorable peace wit
all the world. The field has been foun
I broad enough for the greatest genius an
craftsmanship.
When we glance at the galaxy of grei
men who have illustrated and honore
the history of our country, we find n
more conspicuous example OF the kin
and bene6cent effects of our institution
than James A. Garfield. Born to povert
with his boyish hands, unaided an
alone, save by the advice of a goo
mother, he commenced the battle of lif
With singleness of purpose, sagacIty an
pluck, he fought his way upward, unit
he became the peer of any living Anne
lean; yea, until he reached th
presidency itself, and became the LIANT
mark of his country's genius" to excl
in the. breast poor and.struggling yout
forever purer, a higher and nObler an
bition.
In the future, when the lover of lii
erty shall seek TO eulogiZe American il
stitutions-wben he shall seek to illu
trate their liberal character and expal
sive force, their power to garner I'll
| rfohoSf frtaif 1rofa tho nnoraaf faldc