Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1881-09-02
Billy &t,rnfbtf Journal.
Augusta, FRIDAY Aorning, Sept. 2.
From the \. Y. Times.
The Presidents Wife.

ed station of the chief magistracy Of this
Republic, the record Of his life was tamil
lar to the people as that Of few Of his
predecessors had been. He was ''di-
vinely gifted man." who had battled his
way upward from a low estate until he
had become
ION fortunes browning SLOPE
The pillar Of peoples hope,
The centre Of . worlds desire"
The struggles through which he had
passed, the successes which he had won
in making "by force his merit known, !"
had made his career one Of special inter-
est to all classes. He had long filled a
large place in the public view, and his
varied experience in political life enabled
him to bear himself among the leading
men of the Nation with as much confidence
as If he had been born with all the advan-
tages of the most favored. But little was
known Of the lady whom he was TO bring
to grace the Presidential mansion with her
presence. She had been heard Of only as
the wife and mother Of an unpretending
Ohio home. Washington society had seen
nothing Of her There may have been
misgivings as to the figure she would cut
presiding over the stately Inequalities OF
the White House and associating with the
snowy matrons Of the official circle at the
capital. In her youthful days she had
been schsol-teacher, and the sturdy man
who chose her for a life companion had
followed the same occupation in the course
of his upward progress. 1t was in that
field. where so many Of the best qualities
Of American character are enlisted, that
they we're brought together.
Mrs. Garfeld's married life has been in
the strictest sense a home life, devoted
wholly to the duties and mnistratlons Of
the family circle. 1t may be easily imag-
incd that she looked forward with sort
Of dread to the social requirements OF her
new position at the capital. Perhaps she
was not born to shine in society. perhaps
she had no taste for its pageantry or its
pleasures. and it may be that she would
never have acquitted herself with special
brilliancy either as the head of an official
household. or as the central figure in the
shows and festivities of the season" at
Washington: But greater distinction
than any Of these awaited the devoted wife
and mother. Her first days in her new
home had been spent in sickness. aggra-
waited, no doubt. by apprehensions arising
out of the exigencies of her position, and
she had by no means recovered her
strength when the great calamity of July
I'd fell upon her and upon the Nation.
Then came the grand test of womanly
character. and the qualities that are de-
veloped in the ministrations Of home life
rose into sublmity. Nothing has ever
touched the heart of this Nation with such
an exalting influence as the tender solicit
tude Of the strong man stricken down for
the wife to whom the blow would be Sc
verer than to him. and the heroic fortitude
and devotion with which this "gentlest OF
gentle womankind" bore the shock and
addressed herself to the duties which it
brought.
In these few weeks of trial and anxiety
Mrs. Garfield has achieved distinction
grander and more lasting than ever before
fell to the lot of Presidents wife, 1t has
won recognition the world over and
brought words OF sympathy from the Queen
Of the proudest realm in Christendom.
But the great trial of that household and
the dark shadow of possible bereavement
and sorrow abolished the petty distinctions
OF this worlds pomp and grandeur. The
patient heroism, the cheerful self-sscritice,
the unfaltering devotion of the wife by the
bedside of her suffering husband, were
more than birth or fortune or queenly
robes. What in comparison were the most
brilliant triumphs of the hostess at feasts
of state or Of the leader in the parades OF
fashionable society II. in answer to the
united prayers OF a Nation. this gloom that
overhangs the historic mansion at the cap.
ital should yet break away and the heavens
shine again with hope and joy for that
faithful heart. the fame of Mrs. Garfield
would be all-sutiicient. She would not
need 70 heed the demands of an exalted
social position unless she saw fit. She
would be secure in the esteem and the ten.
der regard of the whole people. who care
more after all for the simple virtues and
the sweet influences of home than for all
the shows and pretensions of society. And
if the dread alternative ofthe hei ole suffer
er's death must be faced. if the bitter cup
is not to pass from the quivering lip that
would tain put it away. in the darkness OF
her widowhood she may find some cheer
in the affectionate regard of great people
and the consciousness that her example oil
faithful devotion will exert purifying in
fluence in millions OF households.
Scooffy doesn't at first seem to be very
poetical name. and perhaps not an impress.
sive or pleasing one. in any aspect but i,
acquires more taking sound when you
know that il is tine patronym of the young
lady who slapped a pretended British army
officer in the face. at West Point, the 9th.