Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-02-27

representative government exists, is necessarily
and very strictly the organ OF bis party. An ar
patriotism when he offered the toast, 'Our
country, always right, but right or wrong,
body Of followers that will do and dare and die for
the cause, is one who believes his party always
right, but right or wrong, is for his party. No
| more important or exaciing duty devolves upon
him than the selection Of the field and the time
for contest He must know not merely how TO
| strike, but where to strike and when to strike He
often skflfully avoids the strength eff his oppo-
nents position and scatters confusion IN his ranks
by attacking an exposed point when really the
righteousness OF the cause and the strength Of
| logical intrenchment are against him. He con-
Guers often both against the right and the heavy
| batta,OnS; as when young Charles Fox, In the
days OF his toryfs,n, carried the House Of Com
| mons against justice, against its immnmora
rights against his own convictions, if, indeed at
that period Fox had convictions. and. in the in
terest or corrupt administration. in ODE Hence To
| tyrannical sovereign, drove Wilkes from the
seat to which the electors OF MiddleSex had chosen
him and installed LuttTell in defiance, not merely
| OF law but OF public decency. For an achieve
ment of that kind Garfield was disquali1ed-di>-
Qualified by the texture OF his mind by the hon.
esty Of his heart, by his conscience, and by every
instinct s, and aspiration of his nature.
Leaders hitherto developed in this country are Mr.
! Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens.
! Each was man OF consummate ability, OF great
earnestness, of intense personality, differing
widely, each from the others, and yet with sig
| nal trait in cominOn-the power to comm2n nd. In
the give and take OF daily discussion, in the art OF
! controlling and conSOlid ting reluctant and retrac-
tory followers; in the skill 10 all forms
@, Oh, opgositoa, lGcs ana TO meet WITH competancy
aSsani. ~ unSUspe9ted detection, it would be dii-
cult to rank Win r.He Sc fourth name in all our
Congre0 0Sional history Bur-. those Hr- Clay was
the greatest. IL would, perhaps De Ir,,.o>siU;~ 10
find in the parliamentary annals OF the wor:.' 2
parallel to Mr. Clay, n 1871, when at sixty-fou
| years OF age he tOOS the control OF tie Will.
party from the Presi lent who had received their
| sufrage5, against the power OF Webster in the
! Cabinet, against the eloquence OF ChoIte in the
| fn i'm mia
! Gushing and Henry A. Wise in the House In
| unShared leadership, in the pride and plentitIde
! OF power he hurled against John Tyler with
deepest ScOrn the mass OF that conouering column
which had swept the land in 13i0 and drove his
admin trton TO seek shelter behind the lines OF his
| political foes. Mr.. Douglas achieved a victory
scarcely less wonderful when. in 1851 against the
secret desires OF a strong administration, against
the wise counsel of the older chiefs, against the
conservative instincts and even the mor.l sense
! OF the country, he forced reluctant Congress
| into repeal of the Missouri compromise Mr.
1868, actually advanced his parliamentary leader
! ship until Congress tied the hands of tie Pres-
leaving only pariunctory duties to be discharged
| by the Executive. VITA two hundred millions Of
patronage in his hands al the opening of the
test, aided by the active force OF Seward in the
! Cabinet and the moral power of Chase the
! Bench, Andrew johnson could not commdna the
support or one-third In either House against tne
parliamentary uprising Of which Thadleu, Stevens
was the animatIns spirit and the unquestoned
| leader.
From these three great men Garfield differed
radically, differed IN the quality OF his mind, N
temperament, in tiie form ana phase OF amb ti0n
| He could not do what they did, but he could do
What they could not, and in the breadth of his
Congressional work ha left that which VIII longer
eXSrt potential influence among men, and
which, measured by the severe test OF post Qn0us
! criticism, Will secure j more enduring and more
enviable fame.
Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and
ignorant OF the details OF mis- work may. IN some
decree, measure them bJ the annals oi Congress.
No one Of the generation of pubic men to which
ne belonged has contributed so much that VIE be
valuable Tor future reference. His speeches are
numerous, many OF them brilliant, all OF them well
studied carefully phrased. ana exhaustive OF the
suOject Under consideration collected from the
scattered pa-es OF ninety royal octave vousaeS OF
CongreSSio"ot Pecord, they would present an u,-
valuable compendium OF the political history OF
the most important era through Which tie ma
tlonal government has ever passed. When the
Mhn nas9y ysr OF fai5 period hll b. nPar wrtten
protection OF human rights, amendments TO the
constitution maintenance OF public credit steps
towards specie resumption, true theories OF raVe-
nue. may be reviewed, unsurroundet by prejudice
ana diScOnnected from pirtiZanlsm, the speeches
OF Garneid Will be estimated at their true value,
and Will be found to comprise a vast magazine OF
fact and argument, OF clear analysis and sound
conclusion. Indeed, If other authority were ac-
cesSible his speeches in the House OF Represent
tiveS from December, 1863, to June, 1880 would
give we'll connec history and complet defense
OF the important legislation of the seventeen event
1ul years that constitute his parliamentary 4! e
Far beyond that, his speeches would be found to
forecast many great measures, yet to be completed
~
lie 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, Garfield does, from the brilliant par
liamentary leaders, it is not easy to tind his c0un-
terpart anywhere in the record of American public
life He perhaps more nearly resembles Mr.. Sew
ard In his supreme faith in the ail-conquering
power Of principle. He hal the love of learning
and the patent industry OF investigations TO Which
John Quincy Adams owes his prominence and his
Presidency He had some OF those ponderous ele-
ments OF mind which distinguished MIR. Webster,
and which indeed, in all our public lire. have lett
the great Massachusetts, Senator without an intel
lectual peer
In English parliamentary history, as In our own.
the leaders in the House OF Commons present
points OF essential difference from Carl Id. But
some OF his methods recall the best features In the
strong, independent course of Sir Robert Peel, and
striking resemblances discernible in that most
promising OF modern conservatives, who died too
early for his country and lis fame, the Lord George
Bentick. He had all of Burkes love for the Sublime
and the Beautiful, with, possibly something OF his
superabundance; and In his faith and his magma
nmity, in his power OF statement, in his subtle
analysis, in his raultleSS logic, In his love of e-a
ture, in his wealth and world OF Illustration one
is reminded of that great English statesman of to-
day, who, confronted with obstacles that would
daunI any but the dauntleSS. reviled by those
whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those
whose supposed rights he is forced TO invade stu
laDOrS with serene courage tor the aneliOratOn OF
Ireland and for the honor OF the English name
Gar1eld's nomination to the Presidency, while
not predicted or anticipated, was not surprise TO
the country. His prominence in Congress- his
solid qualities, his wide reputation streng
by his then recent election as Senator from Ohio,
kept him in the public eye as man occupying the
very highest rank among those entitled to be
called statesmen. 1t was not mere chance that
brought him this high honor. 1--WE must" says
Mr.. Emerson, 'reckOn success constitutional
trait II Eric is in robust health and has slept
we'll and is at the top OF his condition, and thirty
years old at his departure from Greenland. he will
steer west and his ships Will reach New Found
land. But take Eric out and put in stronger and
boider man and the ships will sail six hundred,
one thousand, fifteen hundred miles farther and
reach Labrador and New England. There is no
chance In results"
AS candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popu-
lar favor. He was met with storm of detraction
at the very hour OF his nomination, and it con-
tinued with increasing volume and moment tum
until the close OF his victorious campaign:
No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape bRckwounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. What king strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue.
Under 1t all he was calm and strong, and conf
dent; never lost his selfposseS sion, did unwfse
act, spoke no haSty or nlcOn sidered word. Indeed
nothing In his whole life IS more remarkable or
more creditable than his bearing through those
fve full months OF vitupera ton prolonged
agony OF trial to a sensitive man, q constant and
cruel draft upon the powers OF moral endurance
The great mass OF these unjust imputations passed
unnOGced, and with the general debris or the
campaign fell into oblivion. But in few in
stances the iron entered his SOul and died with