Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-09-28

III are thrown IN VII 'SiiSs .uS patieu
I'd heroic fortitude OF the martyr President
.Ss unwearied devotion OF the noble wife
me ,.sted the agony of her own heart ant
.srved herself to strength that she NIGH
aeI s, the bedside of her husband the help
Pc, ,,;n;strations of a steady hand and :
iai .-Sl couutenance; the faithfulness o.
.s s.;ends who comprised him about will
, ,l'e service; the gifts and proffers of as
n'l.s .o that were showered from far and
s s.r and all quarters of the country, CHIEF
w.. anc them the worthy offering which
...auab,ful love and generous wealth have
va before the widow and the fatherless
s b,;ohter than all ARE those shining cords
- .,mnathy which stretching from the peo
" Oia If every section and every political par.
- - the couch of the PROSTATE leader have
t.rrd all hearts together in binding them 70
-. farther vet did the strength of that
'n:.;,ual influence extend from that weak
sprn of tortured humanity, bringing nations
h,,ond the seas to communion of sorrow
U,,b the American people and making a new
.nnroach to the great republic of the brother.
In the last and most admired of GarfieId's
.,aecbss. delivered before the restraints and
limits of his candidacy were imposed upon
h;m-perhaps the fatal utterance that led to
Ii. nomination-with apt reference to a
snre of speech employed by speakers who
bsd preceded him, and in language which
s,n5y could not have improved, he said. Il
,emember that it is not the pillows, but the
calm level of the sea from which all heights
snd depths are measured. When the storm
Ia, nassed, and the hour of calm settles on
tho ocean. when the sunlight bathes its peace
mi surface, then the astronomer and survey
~ take the level from which they measure
ali terrestrial heights and depths The
,torm of his life has passed the eternal calm
has settled upon his earthly existence.
From that inalterable plain the measure of
hi, life, his character, his achievements will
he taken This is not the time nor the oc-
casiop for undertaking an estimate of the
man who for nearly twenty years lived in the
serce light of criticism which falls upon all
men in public life. But now as the earth
takes from us his mortal form, we instinctively
recall the man as he stood among us, and re-
view the various steps of that splendid career
90 untimey closed.
One of our greatest men and scholars said
ofhm in speaking of his candidacy General
Garfield stands before the American people
as a candidate for its highest honors upon al
plane of longer and more varied experience,
Of better proved capacity, of larger benevo.
lence. of a more comprehensive mind and al
tenderer heart for his countrymens difficult
ties, dangers, and sorrows, than any candi-
date who has been presented by either party
since Henry Clay"
Each mans life the outcome of his for
mer living is" Regarding Garfields life]
through its whole extent, in its straightfor-
ward onward and upward course, we can see]
how legitimately he developed into such al
noble char icter as a man and a statesman, asl
the orator portrayed. Although born in a log|
house in wilderness from which his father|
was hewing home, it does not|
seem an accurate use of language to say of
him in the trite formula of the biographer.
that he was "humbly born" The words con-
vey an untruth if they do not declare it. They
lave an old-world flavor about them and i'm
plv a strangeness that one born amid SUCH
surroundings should mount SO high
Garfield himself, in his own forcible languaget
glowing with poetic imagery and fervor, andl
still more emphaticaly by his splendid ex-
ample, has put to scorn the suggestion that
any American boy, having for birthright theI
facilities for education. the open avenues toI
every success he may choose to strive for,
and the glorious prizes within reach of honest
toll and endeavor, which the republic affords!
all her chldren,-can with propriety be call
ed "humbly born"
No people on the face of the earth prizeI
knowledge more highly than the Americana
people, or hold its possessor in greater honor.
But the mental attainments which are Joined|
to an experience of the hardships of life
which have been acquired by the brain whilel
the hands were toiling for bread, constitute!
far better passport to their preferment THANH
the treasures of learning amassed by thel
student whose way has been snoothed before)
him. 1t is because character is developed
by encounter with difficulties and sympathy
strengthened by experience of the every
day cares and troubles that beset thei
great mass of humanity. that the hearts of
this people warm to the student OF the feldsl
and the workshop more readily than to HIM;
whose preparation for the battle of life has,
been obtained solely in the studyroom andl
the library While honoring in life and
death their Stewards and Summers. they dol
not hold them in quite equal dearness of re
gard with their Lincolns and Garfelds.
The necessity which compelled the future
President to accompany and alternate hisI
rudmcntary studies with manual labor
proved a kindly one in many ways. 1t gaveI
him the physical strength and endurance
which stood him in such good stead amidst
the labors of his after life, and postponed hisI
academic and college years to a comparative
ly mature time of life when his studies
would avail him most.
He was twenty five years of age when he,
completed his college course. The interval on
FIVE years occurring between college and the|
outbreak of the rebellion was full on
varied nployn emf and discipline. As teach
er,student of law, and legislator, he kept stead i
ly in the way toward the higher services he|
was to be called upon to render. At the hrst
call to arms he entered the military service
of his country, and there, and in the civil
Offices he was subsequently, called to, he con-
tinued in his country's service the remainder
Of his life His career as soldier was AM
honorable and brilliant one and his dlstinc-
ton as such would appear more clearly but
that it has been partially absorbed and OBJ
scured by his later and greater reputation rs
a statesman.
In obedience to the spontaneous demand OF
his people, he left the army at the close OF
the third year of the war and took his sea.
IN Congress as their representative and
there by seventeen years of laborious ana
distinguished service he grew to command
the browning degree of confidence, the an,
willingly fatal gift, which the nation bestowed
upon him. For years he was leader IN the
legislation of the country, and among the
foremost as director of the policy OF his
party and as an expounder and champion OF