The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-03-08
WHOLE NO. 1000.

5 the Senate, against tho Herculean
: efforts of Caleb Cushing and Henry
: A. Wise in the House. In unshar-
ed leadership, in the pride and
5 plentitude OF power be hurled
g against John Tyler with deepest
5 scorn the mass OF that conquering
: column which had swep. over the
land in 1910, and drove his admin
istration to seek shelter behind the
: lines OF his political foes. Mr.
Douglas achieved victory scarcely
} less wonderful when, in 1854,
against the secret desires of = strong
: administration, against the wise
: counsel of the older chiefs, against
the conservative instincts and even
the moral sense of the country, he
!, forced reluctant Congress into q
repeal of the Missouri compromise
: MIR. Thaddeus Stevens. in his con-
. tests from 1865 to 1868 actually adj
yanced his parliamentary leader
ship until Congress tied the hands
of the President and governed the
country by its own viii. leaving on
ly perfunctorv duties to be dlscharg-
ed by the Executive. With two
| hundred millions of patronage in
his hands at the opening OF the
contest, aided BY the active force Of
Seward in the Cabinet and the NOR
al power Of Chase on the Bench,
Andrew Johnson could not com
mand the support OF oae-third OF
either House against the Parliamen-
tary uprising of which Thaddeus
Stevens was the animating spirit
and unquestioned leader.
| From these three great men Gar
field differed in the quality Of his
mind, in temperament in the form
and phase of ambition. He could
not do what they did, but he could
do what they could not, and in the
breadth of his Congressional work
he left that which will longer ex-
ert potential influence among men.
and which, measured by the severe
test of posthumous criticism, will
secure a most enduring and more
enviable fame.
Those unfamiliar with .Garfeld's
industry, and ignorant of the de-
tails of his work, may in some de-
gree measure them by the annals of
Congress. No one of the generation
of public men to which he belonged
has contributed so much that will
be valuable for future reference
His speeches are numerous, many
of them well studied. carefully |
| phrased, and exhaustive Of the sub |
iect under consideration. Collected |
from the scattered pa, es of ninety |
royal octave volumns IF Congress !
sional Record, they would present !
an invaluable compendium &c the
political hist nv of the n st il port |
ant era through which M ional
government has ever pass hen
the history Of this period shall be
impartially written, when war iegis-
ton, measures of reconstruction,
protection OF human rights, amend |
ment to the constitution, mainte-
nance OF pubic credit s.o..s toward. |
-r.,:- i~aIptiOD, true theories {
revenue may be reviewed, unsu
rounded By prejudice and discon-
nected from partizanism, the speeches |
of Garfield viii be estimated at their |
true value, and viii be found to |
comprise 4 great magazine of fact !
and argument, of clear analysis and !
sound conclusion. Indeed, If no
other authority were accessible, his /
speeches in the House of Represen-
tatiyes from December 1863, to June, /
1880, would give a well connected |
history a.id complete defense of the |
important legislation of the seven |
teen eventful wears that constituted
his Parliamentary life Far beyond |
that, his speeches would be found |
to forecast many great measures,
vet to be completed = measures
which ne knew were beyond the
public opinion of the hour. but
which he confidently believed |
would secure popular approval with |
In 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 find his counter
part anywhere in the records Of
American public life. He perhaps
more nearly resembles Mr.. Seward
in his supreme faith in the all-con-
euering power Of principle. He
had the love OF learning, and the
patient industry OF Investigation, 70
which John Quincy Adams owes
his prominence and his Presidency.
He had some of those ponder0us
elerneuts of mind which distinguish
ed Mr.. Webster. and which indeed
in all our public life have LEFT the
great Massauchusetts Senator with
out an intellectual pee-
In English parliamentary history.
az in our own. the leaders in the
House Sf Commons present points
of essential difference from Garfield
But sotne OF his methods recall the
best features in the strong. indie
pendent course OF Sir Robert Peel,
and striking resembiances are dis
cernable in the most promising of
modern conservatives, who died too
early for his country and his Eame,
the Lord George Dentinck. He
had all of Burke's love for the Sa-
blime and the Beautiful, with, p ,--
sibly, something OF his superabun-
dance and his faith and magma
nimity, in his power of statement,
in bis subtle analysis, in his fault
less logic In his love of liteature. in
his wealth and world of illustration,
one is reminded of that great Eng
lish statesman, OF to-day, who con-
fronted with obstacles that would
daunt any but the dauntless, revil-
ed by those whom he would re-
lieve as bitterly as by those whose
supposed rights he is forced to in
wade. still labors with serene cour-
age for the amelioration of ireland.
aad for the honor of the English
name
(: Garfield's : nomination to the Pres
idency, while not predicted or an
! ticipated, was not a surprise TO the