The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-10-01

watching with iutensest interest? May We
not reverently remember the words of our
divine Lord, For this cause came l unto
this hour"
In his mature life he was aided and
cheered by the love and help Of noble wo.
man, who has shown such strength, such
courage and devotion during these eighty
days Of trial as is seldom shown. Now,
overwhelmed with sorrow, stricken IN heart
and life she receives, rs she well deserves,
the profound and tender sympathy of every
true man and woman in the land, and yet
she must be in most solemn sense alone in
her sorrow
ask YOU 10 consider the sacredneSs and
beauty of this family lite now brought INTO
such sad prominence, Consider how the
love of such q mother, the help OF such a
wife as aided this man in every step of his
great progress, have made his life beautiful
and Cloritied it, Think what shall we give
in exchange for this divnely instituted fam
lily life, how it surely underlies all that is
pure and lovely and Of good report, the
foundation of the state; remember that such
family lite is the highest result OF our repub-
lican civilization. Remember also that
among the most portentous revelations of
evil in our day are the efforts made to over
turn the family or pervert and destroy 1t.
erlnc is an ar yumcnt that none can fail TO
appreciate against the foul eycrcscence that
Mormonism is striving tr implant in our
country. 81 trust in God and | am not
AFRAID" said the dying president | COM
mend these words to your most serious con-
sideration. Happy is the man who, when
all earthly scenes are fading from his vision,
when consciously he Is entering the dark
valley of the shadow Of death where man
must 90 alone, can say calmly and truly Il
trust in God and am not afraid"
AS am speaking to you to day my own
heart is oppressed with heavy sorrow This
man whom we mourn had honored me with
personal friendship. For seven years we
sat together in the House OF Representatives
earnest aud anxious years, when questions
of the gravest importance were demanding
solution, IN matters where we were wholly
without precedent. The reconstruction OF
the nation after the terrible CONFUSION Of
civil war; the protection and education of
millions of ignorant, helpless human beings
who had been slaves the saving of the faith
and credit OF the nation by devlsing meas.
ures for the payment of the national debt,
which had reached such appalling proper
tons. With views wholly in accord upon
these great questions, occupying seat near
HIM, came to know hun intimately and to
love and trust him. Since that time have
reioiced in every success he has achieved
and now greve for his loss with no ordinary
feeling of sorrow | am speaking to you not
OF a stran ger, but of a friend beloved, OF
whom may say we have taken sweet counsel
together and walked to the house OF God in
company.
NV countrymen,I should not be true to my
own conception of my duty in this place II l
did not in closing this address, speak one
word of admonitlon which now while our
hearts are tender with grief and sympathy
may perhaps be heard and needed. we have
glorious country-lnshtutions capable OF
training men and women for the highest and
noblest lives. It's land that has produced
such lives as those of Lincoln and Garfield
that opens the pathway to honor and reward
to the humblest and poorest. 1t Is the grand
est nation of the earth in its power. In 1t
to-day there IS a higher average OF human
happiness than there is now or ever has been
among the nations of the earth. We have
attained this position by wonderful sacrifice
During the lives of the men of this genera
tion 100000 of our citizens have persisted on
the battle field or in prison pens. The weeds
OF mourning are not yet fully laid aside, and
there are hearts yet mourning and refusing
to be comforted. Lincoln, the man of the
people, the grand man, whose heart was
filled with charity to all and malice towards
none was stricken down by an assassin's
hand and now Garfield, so like him in hum
BILE origin, in wonderful achievement and
grand character, has fallen. Think, pray
you, what our country has cost. And why
is all this? Because it Is land worth the
cost, and because only by these things can
we be educated to guard against evil Said
the ancient prophet, after detailing the ca.
lamities that had come upon himself and his
country: "By these things do men live and
in all these things Is the life Of my spirit"
BY these things shall our country live, If
we learn the lessons they ought to teach
true hard.thinllng men. If madness ruled
the hand of him who struck at Garfield,
what gave his madness such intensity and
direction and shape? Is 1t not evident that
the struggle for office, for personal ends,
awsking all the worst passions of men and
making light ct all restraint, has dshonored
our country and Is cndangering it? | do not
deprccate any discussion of principles or
measures however earnest, but | believe that
in this greed for office, for personal
ends alone, lies the danger TO our institutions
and one that menaces their overflow If
what we say to day Of our dead President is
true, it was true last fall and 1t is now ap-
parent that if only truth had been spoken
of him, then he would have been alive to day.
Not even madness could have been armed
against his life ~ 1t really-wasit must be
vllifed before II could be destroyed. If our
citizens would seek TO elevate to power, not
the best partisans but the best men, the dan.
ger would disappear | might quote the
words Of our dead President, altering the
name. II was no one man who KILLED James
A. Garfield. Ii was the embodied spirit Of
partisan strife and greed of Office that struck
him down III the moment of the Nations su.
premes. joy. But it Is not of this that
wished mainly TO speak What shall pre-
serve and exalt our Nation, tins great herlt-
age Of freedom? My countrymen, wish to
answer with all the earnestness of intense
conviction. Righteousness eXalteth a ma
ton" | believe that God will educate ma
tintl. nnL rnnn IL. snnnl: inn To tln owl lint