Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-07-16

wished to dispose of. One day he
would talk about his book, the next of
his speeches, and then again would
solicit funds to go out stumping. He
labored under the delusion that he was
peculiarly adapted to ruling the minds
of business men, and used to say that
he could convert a greater number of
Democrats in shorter given space of
time than couid Moody sinners. After
the election he again came to me and
demanded recognition for his political
| services. He was so obdurate and per-
sistent in his demands that finally re-
fused to grant him an audience. At
last he wrote me long letter filled with
the most senseless twaddle ever written
by man. I paid no heed to the letter.
Later on I visited Mentor, and the
President asked me if | knew such a
person as Charles Guiteau, stating that
he had received a number of curious
letters from him. l remember that we
laughed heartily over what we termed
his office-seeking idiocy."
"Governor Jewell, do you attribute
this act of Guiteau in seeking President
Garfeld's life to q political motive
which can In any way be connected
with the present dissensions in the
Republican party ?"
''You are asking plain question, but
l can answer frankly. no. He is only n
lunatic = lunatic who is richly deserv-
ing of death"
HIS LAST LETTER.
BY singular coincidence the very
last letter written by General Garfield
| ii Il - l, -, &ln
last Presidential campaign-M -Maior-Gen.
| Winfield S. Hancock. 1t was dated Fri
day, and relates to an appointment re-
Gently conferred upon Colonel Mitchell,
one of the Generals aides-de-camp. 1t
was friendly and pleasant III tone and
could not but have pleased the recipient.
The letter informed General Hancock
that Colonel Mitchell had been appoint
ed Assistant Adjutant- General, and
after apologizing for depriving the Gen
erals staff of an excellent officer, con-
cluded, "While your staff, General, loses
an ornament the army gains an assistant
adiutant- general of whom it may well
feel proud"
GARFIELD ON THE MURDER OF LINCOLN.
The official report i'll the COngreSSiOn-
al Record of Saturday, April IA, 1866,
recites that Mr.. Garfield, in the House
of Representatives, after prayer by
Chaplain Boynton, moved to dispense
with the reading of the Journal, and
said " Mr.. Speaker, I desire to move
that this House do now adjourn. And
| before the vote on that motion is taken
desire to say few words. This day,
Mr.. Speaker, will be sadly memoir
able so long as this nation shall
endure, which God grant may be till
| the last syllable of recorded time, when
the volume of human history shall be
sealed mp ana delivered to the omnipo-
tent Judge. In all future time, ON the
recurrence of this day, j doubt not that
the citizens of this republic will meet in
solemn assembly to reflect on the life
and character of Abraham Lincoln and
the awful tragic event of April 4, 1865
an event unparalleled in the history of
nations, certainly unparalleled in our
own. 1t Is eminently proper that this
House should this day place upon its
records memorial of that event" After
a brief eulogy upon the late President and
a pathetic allusion to the circumstances
of his death, Mr.. Garfield concluded: 'It
was 10 one man who killed Abraham
Lincoln; it was the embodied spirit of
treason and slavery, inspired with fear
ful and despairing hate, that struck him
down in the moment of the nations
supremest Joy. All, sir, there are times
in the history of men and nations where
they stand so near the veil that sepa-
rates mortals from the immortals, time
from eternity aud men from their God,
that they can almost hear the beatings
and feel the pulsations of the heart
of the Infinite. Through such a
time has this nation just passed.
When $50, 600 brave spirits passed from
the field of honor, that thin veil to the
presence of God, and when at last its
parting folds admitted the martyr
President to the company of the dead
heroes of the Republic, the nation stood
so near the veil that the whispers of
God were heard by the children of men.
Awe-stricken by his voice, the American
people knelt in fearful reverence and
made a solemn covenant with him and
with each other that this nation should
be saved from its enemies, that all its
glories should be restored and on the ru-
ius of slavery and treason the temples of
freedom and justice should be built and
should survive for ever. 1t remains for
us, consecrated by that great event and
under a covenant with God, to keep that
faith, to go forward in the great work
until it shall be completed. Following
the lead of that great man and obeying
the high behests of God, let us rcmem-
Der that
He has sounded forth a trumpet that shall
never call retreat;
He Is sorting ont the hearts of men before His
| judgment seat.
Be swift, my soul, to answer Him be jubilant,
my feet,
For God is marching on
At the conclusion of this peroration
the House silently adjourned.
AN HISTORICAL PARALLEL.
Early in the year 1885, on the 30th of
January, President Jackson "assisted"
Mt the obsequies of Warren r. Davis, a
representative from South Carolina.
As the funeral procession was just set
ting out from the Capitol, just as Jack
son, with his Secretaries of the Navy
and of the Treasury beside him, entered
the portico from the great rotunda,
some one stepped out from the crowd,
and in rapid succession fired two pistols
at him. Both of them missed fire, the
percussion caps alone exploding; the
General-never so much himself as in
such circumstances-raise his cane and
rushed at the assassin, who was knocked
. | Jo,,-,, l,xv N onI 60