The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-02-28
Mr.. Blaine's Grafton.

IL Is ditficuU 10 say VIM e"o 'iN.N -.
IL not, would have been. II Is difilctut W
say how Mr.. BlAINE's Grafton OF Yesterday
would compare with one from somebody
else-onc not In existence. But We thihk
Il safe to say that he who could make ape'-
ter one would lie counted the equal OF the
greatest OF oYutors. Admirable In tone and
spirit, uncxceptionable in taste, n mode' OF
rhetorical excellence, strong, fun, ana
without verbcsrty, Mr.. BLA'NE's Grafton Is
highly mtcrcsing-what cannot be said Oh
many oratiens on the dead.
We II course haven't room for an eight
| column orasion. But We must give his re-
ference to the contest between GARFIELD
and CoxKLiNG in regard TO the appoint
ment Of Mr.. RoBERrsoS to be collector oil
the port of New York. Everybody wi'l
desire 10 see how Mr.. BLAINE could refer
TO such a subject without offending the
Stalwarts. Here are his words-and all Of
them. The reader must judge for himself
whether they will justly give offence. Mr.
BLAINE said:
"Tbc p%oIitical events which disturbed
the Presidents serenity for many weeks be-
fore that fatcfuI day in july form M i'm
/ portant chapter in his career, and, In his
| own Judgment, involved questions OF prin'
chile and Of right which are vitality essen.
till TO the constitutional administration OF
the Federal Government. II wOuld be ou'
| OF place here and now to speak the language
Of controversy; but the events referred TO,
however they may continue to be source oil
/ contention with others, have become, so fal
as Garfield is concerned. rs much a matter
OF history as his hcroism at Chickamauga OF
his illustrious service i'm the House. Detai
is not needfuI, and personal a~ntagonism
shall not be rckindled by any word uttered
to-day. The motives of those opposing
him are not to be here adversely In
terpreted nor their course harshly cbarac-
! terized. But Of the dead President this is
70 be said, and said because his own speech
is forever silenced and he can bc no more
heard except through the fidelity and the
love of surviving friends: From the be-
ginning to the end of the controversy he
so much deplored. the President was never
for one moment actuated by any motive of
eain TO himself or OF loss to others. Least
OF all men did he harbor revenge, rarely
did he even show resentment, and malice
was not in his nature. He was cOngenially
employed only in the exchange OF good
offices and the doing of kindly deeds.
"There was not an hour, from the begin
ming Of the trouble till the fatal shot en-
tered his body. when the President would
not gladly, for the sake of restoring har-
mony, have retraced any step he had taken
il such rctracing had merely involved con-
sequences personal to himself. The pride
of consistency, OF any supposed sense OF
humiliation that might result from slrren-
dering his position, had not Il feathers
weight with him. No man was ever less
subject to such influences from within or
from without. But after most anxious
deliberation and the coolest survey
Of all the circumstances, he solemniy
believed that the true prerogatives OF the
Executive were involved in the issue
which had been raised, and that lie would
be unfaithful to his supreme obligation ii
he failed to maintain in all their yigor the
constitutional rights and dignities OF his
great Office. He believed this in all the
convictions of conscience when in sound
and vigorous health, and he believed it in
his suffering and prostration in the last
conscious thought which his wearied mind
bestowed on the transitOry struggles OF
life.
"More than this need not he said. Less
than this could not be said. Justice to the
dead, the highest obligation that deyOlyes
upon the living, demands the declaration
that in all the bearings OF the subject, ac-
tual or possible, the President was content
in his mind, justified in his conscience,
immovable in his conclusions"