Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-02-28


3 whsye he had been cordially invited; and
; again he was disappointed, few weeks after,
to find that ne conld not go to South Carolina
. to attend the ceRssnnial commemoration OF
the victory of Cowpens.
ARRANGEMENTS TO sPEAK IN Tbs SOUTH.
For the autumn he dsinitely counted upon
being present at three memorable assemblies
in the South the celebration at Yorktown,
the opening 81 the Cotton Exposition at At
tiants, and tbs meeting Of the Army Of the
Cumberland st Chattanooga. He was al
Eready turning over in his mind his address for
Teach occasion, aasd the three taken together,
be said to friend, gave him the exact scope
l.aad voyage that be needed. AT Yorktown
he would have before him the associations Of
a hundred years that bound the South and
| the North in the sacred memory of a common
danger and a common victory. At Atlanta
he would present the material interests and
Industrial development which appealed to
the thrift and independence of every house,
hold, and which should unite the two sections
| by the instinct of self-interest and salf-de-
| Tense. AT Chattanooga he would revive the
memories of the war only to show that, after
all its disaster and its sufferir g, the country
was stronger and greater, the Union rendered
indissolcble, and the future, through the
agony Of the blood of one generation, made
brighter and better for all the hereafter.
Garfeld's ambition for the success Of his
administration was high; with strong eau
ton and conservatism in his nature, he was
in no danger Of attempting rash experiments
or of resorting to empiricism Of statesman
ship, but he believed that renewed and closer
attention should be given to questions affect
ing the material interests and commercial
prospect OF Fifty millions of people.
! He believed that our continental relations,
extensive and developed as they are, involved
responsibility and could be cultivated in prof.
liable friendship or be abandoned to harmful
indifference or to lasting enmity. He be-
lieved with equal confidence that an essential
forerunner to a new era in national progress
must be feeling of contentment in every
section Of the Union, and a general belief that
the benefits and burdens of the Government
would be common to al. He was himself
conspicuous illustration of what ability and
ambition may do under Republican institu-
tions. He loved his country with passion of
| patriotic devotion, and every waking thought
was given to her advancement. He was an
American in all his aspirations, and he loved
to describe the destiny and Influence of the
United States, with the philosophical COM
posu1e of Jefferson and demonstrative conf
dence of John Adams.
THE NEW YORK .coNFLIcr-IssUEs INVOLVED.
The political events which disturbed the
Presidents serenity for many weeks before
that fateful day in July form an important
chapter in his career, and ia his own judg-
ment involved matters OF principle, and
which are vitality essential to the constitu-
tion and administration of Federal Govern
ment. It would be out of place here and now
to speak in language OF controversy, but the
events referred to, however they may con-
tinue to be source of contention with others,
have become, SO far as Garfield is concerned,
as much matter of history as his herOism at
Chicamaugs, or his illustrious service in the
House. Detail is not needed, and personal
antagonism shall not be rekindied by any
word uttered to-day.
The motives of those opposing him are not
to be here adversely interpreted, nor their
course hsrshly characterized, but of the dead
President this is to be said, and said because
his own speech is forever silenced, and he can
be no mere heard except through the fidelity
and love Of surviving friends. From the be-
1 - H. e
much deplored, the President was never for
ore moment actuated by motives of gain to
himself or of loss to others. Least of all
did he harbor revenge. Rarely did he ever
show resentment, and malice was not his
nature. He was congeuisily employed only
in the exchange of good offices and the doing
of kindly deeds.
There was not an hour, from the beginning
of The trouble until the fatal shot entered his
body, when the President would not gladly,
for the sake Of promoting harmony, have re-
traced any step hs had taken, ii such re-
tracing had merely involved consequences
personal to himself. The pride of consistency,
or any supposed sense of humiliation that
might result from surrendering his position,
bad not feathers weight with him. No man
was less subject to such influences from
within or without. but after most anxious
deliberation and coolest survey of all the cir
cumstances, be solemnly believed that the
prerogatives of the Executive were involved
in the issue which hsd been raised, and he
would be rnfaithful to lis supreme obligation
if he failed to maintain in all their vigor the
constitutional rights and digrities of the
great Office. lie believed that in all convic-
tions of conscience, when in sound and Wig
orous health, and he believed it in his suffer-
ing ard proatration in the last conscious
thought which bis wearied mind bestowed
upon the trarsitcry struggles of life. More
than this need not be said Less than this
could not be said in justice to the dead. The
highest obligation that devolves upon the liv-
ing demands the declaration that in all the
bearings of the subject, certain or possible,
the President was content in his mind, justi-
fed in mis- conscience, and immovable in his
conclusions.
RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS AND LIBERAL
VIEWS.
The religious element in Garfeld's charac-
ter was deep and earnest. In his youth he
espoused the faith of the Disciples-a sect of
that great Baptist ComIRunion, which in diff
ferent ecclesiastical establishments are so
numerous and influential throughout all
parts of the United States. But the broad
enirg tendency of his mind and his active
spirit of inquiry were early apparent and
drew him beyond the dogmas of the sect and
the restraints of association. In selecting
college in which to continue his education, he
did not select Bethany though presided
over by Alexander Campbell, the great
est preacher of his church. His reasons
were characteristic first, that Beth
any leaned too heavily toward slavery
and second, that being himself a
Disciple, and the son of Disciple parents, he
had little acquaintance with the people of
other beliefs. and he thought it would make
him more liberal, quoting his own words,
both in his religious and his general views,"