Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-09-22


MAYORS private Office.
Col. J. Fl. EstiIl then moved that Col.
James Atkins, who was personal friend Of
the late President, be requested TO address
the meeting, and the motion was unani-
mously adopted
Colonel Atkins arose and addressed the
sssembrzge in substance about as follows:
NJ. C5Giy7zGa AID FsZJOas CITIZENS: This is
a sad occasion on which we meet to-day.
The Chief Magistrate Of our country has
fallen by the hand Of violence. The peo-
Pies snolnted one now lies cold in death,
sad < Is fitting that we should come to-
<ether snd mingle our tears over his pros
rate form The sudden taking of Of the
chief ruler Of any great people is an event
thai nearly concerns every individual Of that
people When such an event results from
lsEless violence in q time Of pro-
found pesce, all our feelings
are shocked SIS at something quite out Of
harmony with existing circumstances. And
yet even IN the midst OF our grief We can
not but feel q sense of satisfaction that this
deplOrable visitation has come upon US in
time Of peace and perfect quiet, when pas
sion slumbers and reason Teigns throughout
our beloved country, rather than in time of
war or OF civil and political complication.
Indeed, we have cause to thank the AL
mighty Ruler Of nations that our grief is
country, our homes, ourselves and our loved
ones.
Our late President, James a. Garfield, is
gone from his loving wife, from his ven
cradle mother, from his poor children and
from his mourning cOuntrymen. His career
is closed. his battles fought, his struggles
ended. Public affairs are such as not to
call for our anxious sOlicitude, and We may
therefore with prOpriety coufne our re-
-, nd oh or Of ha
II fell to my lot to know him well. He
was one whom to know was to admire and
love. In him ''the unexpected ever con-
CURED. He was born and reared In pow
erty; and vet nothing OF the coarse or Yul-
gar in habits, tastes or instincts could be
found about him. On the contrary, he was
the embodiment Of all that is nigh in senti-
ments Of honor, refined In taste, and noble
and manly in bearing. He was a tOiler
from his cradle to his grave, aud
yet he found time for study and
meditation. He was Intimate with the
very drudgeTy Of life, and vet he was famil-
lar with the writings of the ancient classics,
sacred aud prOfane, with the literature, the
arts, and the sciences Of modern times, and
he was fully abreast with all the ripest
thought of the age. He was the personif-
cation of s. ateliness, and yet his movements
he once got under way.
And here l would ask you to note with
what strides he advanced to the emtnence
at which death overlook him. For poor
Young man, of almost no early advantages,
he graduated with distinction, but not until
he was twenty-five years old, and immedi
ately entered life as teacher. At the age
Of twenty-eigbt he was called from his col
lege prOtessOrship to serve in the Senate of
hi uafiva State and haDpa Al the Of
thirty, he went into the army as volunteer,
aud became, at the age of thirty-twO, Ma
iOr General of volunteers. While still in the
tented field, he was elected to Congress, and
! took his seat in that body in the thirty third
year of his age. There he remained until
be became President In the fftieth year of
| his age. So his career as fully equipped
man extended over only twenty -fve years
Our whole country has reason to be proud
Of this brief yet brilliant career. 1t is a
career untarnished by blot or stain. 1t was a
regular ascent from the first up to the lofty
summit of all earthly greatness aud glory.
Although the lot of this extraordinary man
was cast in the time of angry civil strife,
| and he stood forth boldly In manly mainte-
nance OF the principles OF the side OF his
| choice, vet, while Sill retaining the conf
dence Of his own side, little by little, he
gained the respect and admiration, and
/ finally, as | verify believe, the love Of all
sides, including all who are now within
/ the sound Of my voice. 1t is
true that he had Just entered upon
the duties Of the high office to which the
people had called MIN, and so had not had
| time to exhibit what might have been the
glory of his country's history. We are
measurably left to suTmise aud inference as
to what sort of a President he would have
been. Alas ! that our country can never
know what she has lost in the untimely
grave of him We mourn to day. For my
own part l can truly say Inever knew a man
of more spacious brain. l regarded him, in
this respect, as the equal Of any. If not SUI
periOr to all, of our illustriOus Presidents.
He excelled in comprehensive statesman
ship. He adorned our country by his
scholarship. He cOmpTehended in his
unselfsh patriotism the entire country
and all its people. And personally know
that it was bis cherished desire and ambi-
| ton, by his Presidential labors, to bring
about perfect unity and sympathy In the
hearts Of the people Of this entire country,
to the obliteTation of sectiOnalism every
where. And believe his heart and brain
were large enough, and his purpose was
resOlute, firm and enduring enough, to have
enabled him to realize his noble ambition.
And now that he is dead may the sacri-
fee of his noble life have the effect to pro-
pitiste the spirit of discOrd and sectional
ism, and thus rid our country of an evil
that has haunted US for almost a century
IL this be the effect OF the sad event we
mourn, the name of James A. Garfield will
become sacred to every lover of human
liberty throughout the world and far down
the ages to come. Let US hope for this at
least.
In his private life be was worthy OF all
praise. AS husband he was devoted, single
hearted, aud true; as son, he was tender and
loving; as a father, be was wstchful aud in
dulgent, yet strict and firm; as friend he
stood by his friendEthrough all the viclssi-
tudes Of life, and admired those who did
the sane. As mar, he was q model fer
our youth 10 Initiate; pure in life and
thought; grand In his splendid
natural endOwments, yet grander in
his achievements by means of
ceaseless tolls and vigils. And, to crown
all, he was an unOstentatious, an unpreten.
tiOus, a Supplemented, a God-fearing, a
man-loving Christian gentleman. Much
more l feel like saying about this great
man, and many points might touch upon
did time serve and circumstances justify.
But have said enough for any single indi-
vidual of this waiting throng, and desiring
to hear q free expression OF feeling from all
l close by thanking you, Mr.. Chairman and
gentlemen, for your courteous call.
Upon the conclusion of Col. Atkins re-
marks, the Committee on Resolutions re-
appea ed aud submitted the following re-
port through their Chairman, which, on mo-
ton OF Col. ]. L. Wsrrea, was unanimous
~ adopted:
WHEREAS. 1t is the desire Of the eitizens
OF Savannah to record their sense of the
cOuntry's loss in the death of James A
Garfield, late President Of the limited
States. Therefore, be it
RssOlted, That, while we bow In deenest
sorrow aud humiliation, submitting 10 the
will of Him "Sho dOeth all things we'll -
vet the splendid intellectual power, the
noble humanity and manhood, the elevated
patriotic Craftsmanship of him whom the
people mourn, call forth spontaneous ad-
miration for HIS illustrious life and in
exDressibIe sorrow for his tragic death.
Resolved, That to the noble woman, whose
devotion and fortitude have elected the
love Of every human heart, we tender our
sympathy il the hour Of her unutterable
woe, and earnestly invoke Divine favor up
on her and her stricken family.
Resolved, That these resolutions be pub
Ished in the daily papers, and an engrossed
copy forwarded to the widow and family Of
the deceased.
Captain Robert Fslligant was then called
upon, and responded in q speech which