Huntsville gazette., 1882-03-04


better. He never expended so much strength
| but that he seemed to be holding additional
power at call. This some of the happiest aud
rarcst distinctions of an effective debatcr,
and often for as much in persuading an
assembly as the eloquent and elaborate argu-
ment. The great measure OF Gariield's fame
1 was filed by his service in the House OF Rep
resentatives- Ills military life, illustrated by
/ honorable performance and rich in promise,
/ was, rs he himself felt, prematurely termina-
I ted and necessarily Incomplete Speculation
as to what he might have done in a field
where the great prizes are so few can not be
profitable. Il is sufieicIst co say that as
4 soldier he did his duty bravely he did il in
telligently, he won an enviable name, and he
returned from the service without blot or
| blemish against him. AS n lawyer, though
admirably equipped for the profession, he can
scarcely be said 60 have entered upon it's
practice The few efforts he made at the bar
were distinguished by the same high order of
talent which he exhibited on every field
where he was put to the test and if d man
may be accepted as competent judge of his
\ own capacities and adaptations, the law was
| the profession to which Garfield should have
/ devoted himself but fate ordained otherwise,
and his reputation in history will rest largely
upon his service in the House of Representa-
tives. That service was exceptionally long.
! He nine times consecutively chosen to
1 the House. an honor enjoyed by not more
1 than six other Representatives of the more
than five thousand who have been elected
from the organization OF the Government to
| this hour.
| AS parliamentary orator, as a debater on
an issue squarely joined, where the position
/ had been chosen and the ground laid out, Gar
/ field must be assigned very high rank. More
! perhaps than any man with whom he was as
sociated in public life, he gave careful and
1 systematic study to public questions, and he
| came to every discussion in which he took
! part with elaborate and complete prepara-
\ tion.. lie was steady and interchangeable
worker. Those who imagine that
talent or genius can supply the
/ place achieve the results of labor
/ will find no encouragement in Garfield's life.
In the preliminary work he was apt, rapid
and skillful. He possessed in high degreethe
power of readily absorbing ideas and facts,
| and, like Or. johnson, had the art of getting
from book all that was OF
value in it by reading apparently
| so quick and cursory that it seemed
/ like II mere glance at the table Of con
\ tents. lie was pre- -eminently fair and can
/ did man in debate, took no petty advantage,
\ stopped to no unworthy methods, avoided
| personal illusions, rarely appealed to preju
dice did not seek to infiame passion. lie
! had quicker eye for the strong point of his
| adversary than for his weak point, and on
his own side he so marShaled his weighty
| arguments as to make his hearers forget any
! possible lack in the complete strength OF his
! position. He had II habit or stating his oppO-
ncnt's side with such amplitude OF fairness
and such liberality of concession that his fol-
! lowers often complained that he weak
! enng his case, but never in his prolonged
participation in the proceedings of the House
did he give way or fail in the Judgment OF
competent and impartial listeners to gain &
mastery.
These characteristics which marked Gar
field rs a great deOater did not, however,
make him Il great parliamentary leader. A
parliamentary leader, rs that term is under
stood wherever free representative govern
ment exists, is necessarily and very strictly
\ the organ of his party.
/ Those unfamiliar with Garfelds industry,
and ignorant of the details of his work, may,
\ in some degree measure them by the annals
| of Congress. No one of the generation of
4 public men to which he belonged has contrib
uted so much that will be valuable for future
{ trnfn 10 snnnphaG
| of them brilliant, all of them well studied,
| carefully phrased and exhaustive of the sub
/ ject under consideration. Collected from the
scattered pages of ninety royal octave vol
umeS of Congressional record, they would
I present an invaluable compendiumo the po-
| tical history of the most important era
i through which the National Government has
! ever passed. When the history OF this period
/ shall be impartialy written, when war legis-
\ lation. measures of Reconstruction, protection
| of human rights, amendments to the Consti-
\ tuition, maintenance OF public credit, be re-
viewed, unsurrOunded by prejudice and dis
connected from partisanism, the speeches OF
| Garfield will be estimated at their true value,
| and viii be found to comprise vast maga-
zine of fact and argument, of clear analysis
\ and sound conclusion. Indeed, If no other
authority were accessible, his speeches in the
\ House of Representatives, from December
1858 to June 1850, would give well connected
history and complete defense of the impor
tant legislation OF the seventeen eventful
years that constitute his parliamentary lite.
Far beyond that, his speeches would be found
to forecast many great measures yet to be
completed, measures which he knew were be-
yond the public opinion of the hour, but
which he confidently believed would secure
popular approval within the period OF his
/ own lifetime and by the aid of his own efforts.
! Differing as Garfield does from the brilliant
parliamentary leaders, it is not easy to ma
/ his counterpart anywhere in the record of
/ American public life. He perhaps more nearly
resembles Mr. Seward in his supreme faith in
/ the all conquering power of principle. He
/ had the love of learning and the patient In
dustry Of investigation to which John Quincy
Adams owes his prominence and his presi-
dency. He had some of those ponderous ele-
ments Of life which distinguished Mr.. web
| ster, and which in all our public life have lett
the great Massachusetts Senator without an
intellectual peer
In English parliamentary history, as in our
own, the leaders in the House OF Commons
present points OF essential dlnerence from
/ Garfield, but some Of his methods recall the
! best features in the strong, 1ndepenuent
course of Sir Robert Peel, and striking resem-
blances are di5cernible in that most promls-
| ing of modern conservatives, who died too
early for his country and his fame, the LORD
George Bentinck. He had all OF Burke's love
/ for the sublime and the beautiful, with posi-
4 bly, something of his superabundance, ana IN
his faith and his magnanimity IN his power OF
statement, in his subtle analysis, IN MS iault-
Tess logic in his love of literature, in his
wealth and world of illustration, one is re-
minded Of that great English statesman OF to-
day who, confronted with obstacles tnat
would daunt any but the dauntless, revlled
by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as
by those whose supposed rights he Is forced
4 to invade, still laDOr5 WITH serene COURAGE lOI
the ameIioration of Ireland and for the honor
| of the English name. Gar6eld's nomination
1 to the Presidency, while not predicted or an
ticipated, was not surprise to the country.
| His prominence in Congress, his so1d quail
ties his wide reputation strengthened DY ms
then recent election as Senator from ONO,
kent him in the public eye as man occupy
ing the very highest rank among those en-
titled to be called statesmen. 1t was not mere
chance that brought him this high power
awe must" says Mr. Emerson, ''Reckon sue
cess constitutional trait. IL Eric Is IN robust
health and has slept well, and is at the top OF
his condition and thirty years old, at ms dc
parture from Greenland he Will steer west,
and his ships viii reach New Foundland, Dut
take Eric out and put in q stronger and Dolder
man and tile ships win 500, 1000, 5OOnlles
| farther and reach Labrador and New Eng
/ land" There is no chance in results AS
| candidate Garfield steadily grew in popular
/ favor He was met with n storm OF detrac-
\ ton at the very hour of his nomination. and
| it continued with increasing volume ana mo-
/ mentum until the close of his victorious cam
4 paign.
/ No might nor greatness in mortality
I Can censure 'scape; back wound1ng calumny
| The whitest virtue strikes. What King so
strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue'
1 Under it all he was calm and strong and
4 confident; never lost his possession; did
1 no unwise act; spoke no hasty or ill-consld
4 49, - t.~1n IN