The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1881-05-20
THE PRICE OF EM1NENCE.

1t has been said that great privileges
entail corresponding responsibilities,
and the latest advices from the White
House justify the belief that tins
truism has not failed 10 impress itself
with convincing force upon the inmates
Of that historical mansion. The splen-
did pageantry which marked the in
auguration of General Garfield as presi-
dent of the United States. must have
been gratifying, indeed, TO the lofty am
bition of the central figure of that i'm
posing ceremonial, and doubtless filled
with fond and just pride the heart Of
her who had shared in the struggles and
triumphs of her gifted husband. II
marked the fruition of the highest
hopes and most exalted aims v hich can
animate the heart of an American citi-
zen, and It Is not marvellous that the
pale cast OF coming care was lost, for the
hour. in the rosy flush Of peerless
triumph.
But the perplex;ties which waited for
the man whose metal had been develop
ed in a hand to-hand struggle with the
vicissitudes which marked the history Of
his earlier manhood, soon asserted them
selves and challenged TO combat the hero
of many victories. The triumphal
march from Mentor TO Washington prov
ed 10 be but the rose-strewn approach 10
q long and toilsome path. whose sharp
stones may not be tread without pain,
and whose heights cannot be gained
without the WEAKNESS that waits upon
unceasing effort. The Presidents al
vent TO the White House was soon fol-
lowed by the trying importantly of
hOrdes OF hungry seekers for place who
literally laid seige TO the new executive,
making such demands upon his time as
To utterly preclude the possibility Of
needFul rest, or the wholesome joys of
domestic privacy. This onslaught upon
his peace of mind was succeeded in due
course of time by those wearing per-
plexities which have grown out OF the
Robertson appointment, and the arduous
duties which legiIImatelY attach to the
presidency have been supplemented by
the incalculable annoyance of bitter
quarrel which has been precipitated up
on the administration by the arrogance
of the senior senator from New York.
In view of the Tremendous pressure
under which he has been labOring, it is
not strange that even man as well ell
dowed as Garfield to grapple with great
responsibilities, should give evidence of
the intense strain TO which he has been
subjected, and has found it necessary
10 guard his threatened health by
daily excursions into the country on
horseback, and such occasional seasons
of respite from official cares AS he is
sometimes obliged TO secure by refusing
audience to an endless throng of callers.
But the annoyance of the situation
has deepened into gravity by reason of
the illness of Mrs. Garfield, whose ar
duous social duties have proved too
much for a delicate constitution which
has given away under its heavy burden,
and whose over-taxed energies have sue
CuuDcu W pAOcIIotAOA oAN oSAAOoo AAA
ness. With that absorbing pride in the
success of her husband which has char
acterized her life, Mrs. Garfield has sac
rificed her personal predictions for
a quiet life to the interests
of her exalted sphere, but in
the effort TO maintain her Onerous posi-
ton, she has Overreached her strength,
and her condition has added new
source of anxiety to the troubled mind
of the president.
While these conditions might be anne
liorated to q certain degree by whole
some social and political reforms, it
seems to be in keeping with the inevitable
law of compensation that the cares of
Office shall offset its emoluments and the
grave responsibilities of commanding pO-
sition be made the price of its coveted
honors. Ambition has proved cheat to
the heart ever since our first parents
transgresse1 the law that they might be-
come as gods, but the thirst for power
and the longing for fame have survived
all the misery entailed upon humanity by
thwarted hopes and disappointed aspira-
tions, and burn within the heart of man
with all the intensity of the fierce fire
that infiamed the pride and wrought the
fall of Lncifer, the Star of the Morn
inp