The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-09-30
The Garfield Memorial Service.

Last Monday in common with all th
principal towns of the State, the people o
Corvallis met to express their feelings o
deep sorrow at the overshadowing calaInit,
j that had settled in its black darkness owe
the Nation by the recent death of its chic
magistrate.
| Promptly at 10 o'clock or little befer
/ that hour every business house in the cit,
was closed and the citizens in solemn silenc
took their way to the oresa house where th
services of the day were to be held.
Before the time for the services to Com
mence the large audience. room gallery ane
stage of the opera House was literal,
jainmed with crowd of expectant citizens
the utmost good order prevailed and whe1
the deep toned Organ. under the skilIfu
touch of Wallis Nash ESQ.,, sounded fortl
its solemn notes of mourning, the assembled
multitude were hushcd TO holy silenc.
that seemed almost impossible amid such a,
assembly.
| The meeting was called to order by Judge
| McFadden who stated in few, words the
object of the meeting, which was then open
ed with prayer led by Rev. q. P. Dunning
followed by an appropriate funeral hymn
surg by about twenty-five voices selected
frem the best musical ability of the city.
| Rev. Jos. Emery was to have delivered
| the opening address bur owing to sickness
was not-able to be present, and Judge F.
A. Chcnoweth was then introduced and
spoks as follows:
| My Countryn,ea:
James A. Garfield is dead, and we to-day
mourn his untimely death. The loss is ours,
| not his, for to him death is promotion, He
has gone to a brighter mortality, but for
many important purposes he yet lives, and
is one of us. He lives for the purpose of
| shedding around us the luster Of his ex-
ample
His devotion to our country, when the
dark threatning clouds of war hung over
us black as perdition, when strong mems
hearts went down, and when we all felt that
we were treading un ground beneath which
slumbered volcanic fires, uncertain to
who or what would fall uppernost In the
very darkest days Of this republic he barred
his breast tothe enemy and marched with
heroic triumph to his vanquishment.
His active duties in congress his unHaging
zeal, his uncomprolnising integrity, the
active living fee to all corruption.
the never failing friend Of the poor, and
oppressed. these are shining trophys of q
faithful life. James A. Garfield es dutifu1
son, faithful husband and father, an honest
citizen has planted beacon lights along the
shore that no storm will demolish. But
will stand as guides and lights to his country
men. In all these matters he is not dead
and will not die; He has made plain his foot
prints on the sands of time and they will
be ever there to guide and encourage the
true American. Thus it is. one by one the
good and great are gathered home to their
rewards and upon us that remain devolves
the responsible duties of government. -
And now what shall say of the miser-
able wretch that murdered our beloved
President? Garfield had done him no harm;
he murdered him because he was president.
That murderpus blow struck us all we
were all wounded by the foul deed. Of
course he forfeited his life. and hope it
may be by the eorrxs of law. This is no
adequate punishment for such crime, but
the laws of eternal justice will reach him.
To him the grave will. be no shelter; the
physical change of death can make him no
better. He mnst pass to the society be-
yond, hated and spurned by every good
being with the mark of the blasted Cain
upon him. Not only SO, million American
people hate and despise him, but the good of
all this world join in the same feeling, and
this can only be faint and feeble indication
of the spurning of the higher intelligences.
The fact is no man ever did or ever will
escape the full and just punishment of
crime; it is inherent in the very constitution
of our being.
After another appropriate hymn judy e
John Burnett addressed the meeting in the
following words.
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is the saddest day that this nation
has ever known. A great calamity has be-
fallen the people: IA great man hath fallen
in Israel" To-day the hearts of fifty mil
lions of people are wrung with anguish, and
all over this fair land from the frozen region
of the north to the sunny everglades Of the
south, from the thronged and busy cities of
the east to the snn-lit shores Of the Pacific
comes up the requiem of nation mourning
over its dead president. Our hearts are to-
day in the coffin of the Ilustrious dead,
around the casket that contains all that is
mortal of our beloved president is centered
the affections and sympathies not only of
this great nation but the entire civilized
world.
Human aid and human solace terminate
at the grave or we would gladly have borne
him upward on nations outspread hands:
we would have accompanied him, and with
the blessings of millions and the prayers Of
millions, commended him to the divine ia
vor. Death comes to all alike,
the high and the low, and the rich and poor,
and day by day the great, the gifted and the
strong fall one by one, and there's not an
hour that fits away but bears the burden of
a life, the mystery of q death. II earthly
honors or high position could have avaiied to
shield the president from the shaft of the
'.pale archer, he would not now be mum
bered among the silent sleepers of the
tomb In the presence of death,
folly and pride, passion, ambition and its
minds, hate and prejudices die within us
and leave Justice, truth and mercyto speak,
and so the living contemplate the living
dead, And so come l with this solemn
presence to speak word as to the life and
example of the dead president
President Garfield was of the highest type
and best model of an American, and was
essentially self made man. Early left
fatherless, his youth was spent in alternate
periods of study at school and hard manual
labor for his own support He worked on a
farm, and drove horses ON the Ohio canal
He learned the carpenters trade and work
ed at it during his school vacation. Thus in
his boyhood days he learned in the school
of necessity the lesson of labor, patient toll,