The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-03-10

and, like DR.. johnson. had the art Of gettins
from . book all that was o
so quick x and y cursory 1 that IL seemed
like . nero glance at the table of con
tents. He was pre-emnently fair and can.
stooDed to no unworthy methods, avoided
personal illusions, rarely appealed to preiu
dice, did not seek to inflame passion. lie
eye TOT Tin so od
his own side he 50 marshalcd his weighty
arguments as to make his hearers forget any
possible lack in the complete strength OF MS
nent's side with such amplitude OF fairness
and such liberaliey OF conces sion that his fol-
lowers often complained that he was 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 the
mastery.
These characteristics, which marked Gar
field as great debater did not, however.
make him q great parliamentary leader A
parliamentary leader, as that term Is under
ment exists, is necessarily and very strictly
THOSE Unfamiliar with Garfield's 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
public men to which he belonged has contrib
uted 90 much that will be valuable for future
reference. His speeches are numerous, many
| them
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
| litical history of tho most important era
through which the National Government has
ever passed. When the history of this period
| shall be impartially written. when war leyiS-
latiOn, measures OF Demonstration, projection
of human rights, amendments to the Consti.
| tuition. maintenance of public credit, be re-
/ lad, fnn nd
connected from partisanism. the speeches of
| Garfield will be estimated at their true value,
! and will be found to comprise a vast maya
| 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
| history and complete defense of the impor.
tant legislation of the seventeen eventful
years that constitute his parliamentary lite:
Far beyond thai. his speeches would be found
| to forecast many great measures yet to be
completed, measures which lie knew were be-
yond the public opinion of the hour. but
| which he confidently believed would secure
popular approval within tho 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 counterpart anywhere in the record OF
American publclife. He perhaps more nearly
resembles Mr.. Seward in his supreme faith in
the all cOnquering power of a principle He
had the love of learning ami the patient in
dustry of investigation to wi ell John Quincy
Adams owes his prominence and his presi-
dency. He had some eff those pOnderOus ele-
ments of life which distinguished Mr.. Web
ster, and which in all our public life have left
the great Massachusetts, Senator without an
intellectual peer.
In English parliamentary history, a. In our
present points of essential difference from
Garfield, but some of his methods recall the
best features in the strong, independents
! course of Sir Robert Peel, and striking resem.
blances are discernible in that most promis-
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-
bly, something of his superabundance, and in
his faith and his magnanimity in his power OF
statement, in his subtle analysis IN his fault
wealth and world of illustration, one Is re-
minded of that great English statesman of to.
day who, confronted with obstacles that
would daunt any but the dauntless. reviled
by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as
by those whose supposed rights he Is forced
to invade, still labOrs with serene courage for
the ameliOratiOn of Ireland and for the honor
of the English name. Garhelds nomination
to the Presidency. while not predicted or an
ticipated, was not a surprise to the country.
His prominence in Congress, his solid quail
ties. his wide reputation, strengthened by his
then recent election as Senator from Ohio,
kept him in the public eve 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.
1--WE must" says Mr.. Emerson, "Reckon sue
cess constitutional trait. If Eric is in robust
health and has slept well, and is at the top of
his condition and thirty years old, at his de-
parture from Greenland he will steer west,
and his ships will reach New Foundland, but
take Eric ont and put in q stronger and holder
man and the ships will sail 6OO, 900 .5OOmiles
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 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
paign.
No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape; back wOunding caluInny
The whitest virtue strikes. What King so
strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue?
Under it all he was calm and strong and
confident; never lost his self-pOSseSsiOn; did
no unwise act; spoke no haSty or ill-cOnsid.
cred word. Indeed, nothing in his whole life
is more remarkable or more credit able than
his bearing through thos. five full months of
vituperation-a prolonged agony of trial to
| sensitive man. a constant and cruel draft up.
on the powers of moral endurance. The great
mass OF these uni u-t imputatiOns passed I'M
! noticed, and, with the general debris OF the
campaign, fell into oblivion. But in few in.
| stances the iron entered his soul and he died
| with the injury unfOrgOtten II not unf0rgiven.
| One act of Garfield's candidacy was unprece-
| denied. Never before in the history of pa IT,
| san contests in this country had u successful
Presidential candidate spoken freely on pass
| ing events and current issues. To attempt
anything of the kind seemed novel, rash and
| even desperate. The older class of voters re-
| called the unfortunate Alabama letter, in
| which Mr.. Clay was supposed to have signed
| his political death warrant. They remem-
| bered also the hot tempered effusOn by which
Gen. Scott lost a large share of his popularity
| before his nomination, and the unfortunate
speeches which rapidly consumed the re-
| mainder. The younger voters had seen Mr..
| Greeley, in q series of vigorous and original
addresses, preparing the pathway for his own
| defeat. Unmntlful of these warnings, un-
needing the advice of friends, Garfield spoke
in large crowds as he journeyed to and from
New York, in August, to great multitude in
| that city, to delegations and Populations of
| every kind that called mt Mentor during the
! summer and autumn. With innumerable
critics, watchful and eager to catch q phrase
| that might be turned into ridicule or Odium.
or q sentence that might be distorted to his
own or his party's injury, Garfield did not
trip or halt IN any one of his seventy speech
| eS. This seems a the more remarkable
| when 1t is remembered that he did not write
what he said, and vet spoke with such logical
| consecutiveness of thought and such admira-
| BILE precision of phrase as to defy the acct
| dent of misreport and the malignity of mis-
! representation.
In the beginning OF his Presidential life
| Garfield's experience did not yield him pleas
| ure or satisfaction. The duties that engrOss
| so large portion of the Presidents time were
| distasteful to him and were unfavOrably con-
| trasted with his legislative work. II have
been dealing all these years with IDEAS" he
/ impatientiv exclaimed one day, and here
am dealing with only persons; have been
4 -. l. g. y.w~~ n ~s.~