Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-02-28
associations. For him 1t held the ark
of the covenant To him Il

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associations. For him 1t held the ark
Of the covenant. To him It
was the gate Of Heaven. The
world of religious belief is full of solecsms
and contradictions. A philosophc observer
declares that men by the thousand will die In
defense of creed whose doctrines they do not
comprehend and whose tenets they habituslly
violate. It IL equally true that men by the
thousand will cling to church organizations
with instructive and undyipg fiellty when
their belief in maturer years is different from
that which inspired them as neophytee.
But after this range of speculation, and this
latitude OF doubt, Garfield came bacll always
with freshness and delight to the simpler in-
stincts of religious faith, which, earliest I'M
planted, longest survive. Not macy weeks
before his assassination, walking on the banks
of the Potomac with friend, and conyersing
on those topics of personal religion. concern
ing which noble natures have an unconquera-
BILE reserve, he said that he found the Lords
Prayer and the simple petitions learned In In
fancy infinitely restful to him, not merely In
their stated repetition, but in their casual and
frequent recall as he went about the daily du-
ties OF life. Certain texts OF scriptures had
very strong hold on his memory and his
heart. He heard while in Edinburg some
years ago, an eminent Scotch preacher who
prefaced his sermon with reading the eighth
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which
book had been the subject Of careful study
with Garfield dur ng all his religious life. he
was greatly impressed by the eloquence Of the
preacher, and declared that it had impaired Q
uew and deeper meaning to the majestic ut
terances of Saint Paul. He referred often In
after years to that memorable service, and
dwelt with exaltatlon OF feeling upon the ra-
diant promise and the assured hope with
which the great apostle Of the Gentiles was
persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor an
gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come. nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate US from the love of God, which 10
in Christ Jesus our Lord"
The GROWING characteristic OF General
Gerfeld's religious opinions, as, Indeed, of all
his opinions, was his liberality. In all things
he had charity. Tolerance was of his nature.
he respected In others the qualities which he
possessed himself-sinceri.y Of conviction and
frankness of expression. With him the iuqui.
ry was not so much what man believes, but
does he believe itP The lines of his friendship
and his confidence encircled men OF every
creed, and men of no creed, and to the end Of
his life, on his ever.lengthening list OF friends
were to be found the names of pious Cath
ole priest and of an honest-minded and gen.
erous hearted free-thinker.
THE FATEFuL JULY DAY,
On the morning of Saturday, July second,
the president was contented and happy man
NOT in an ordinary degree, but joyfully, al
most boyishly happy. Ga his way to the
railroad station to which he drove slowly, in
conscious enjoyment of the beautiful morning
with an unwonted sense of leisure and a keen
anticipation OF pleasure, his talk was all In
the grateful and gratulatory vein. He felt
that after four months of trial his admins
tration was strong in its grasp Of affairs,
strong In popular favor and destined to grow
stronger; that grave difficulties confronting
him at his Inauguration had been safely
passed; that trouble lay behind him and not
before him; that he was soon to meet the wife
whom he loved, now recovering from an ILL
ness which had but lately disquiered and at
times almost unnerved him; that he was going
to his Alma Mater to renew the most cherished
associations of his young manhood, and to ex-
change greetings with those whose deepening
interest had followed every step of his upward
progress from the day he entered upon his
college course until he had attained the Hottest
elevation in the gift of his countrymen.
Surely If happiness can ever come from the
honors or triumphs of this world, on that
quiet July morning James A. Garfield may
well have been happy man. No foreboding
of evil haunted him; no slightest premonition
was upon him in an instant. One moment he
stood erect, strong, confident in the years
stretching peacefully out before him. The
next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence,
and the grave.
Great in life, he was surprisingly great In
death. For no cause, in the very frenzy OF
wantonness and wlckedness, by the red hand
of murder, he was thrust from the full tide OF
this worlds interest, from its hopes, its aspi-
rations. it's victories, into the visible presence
of death-and he did no quail Not alone
for the one short moment in which,
stunned and dazed, he could give up life,
hardly aware of its REIMBURSEMENT, but
through days Of deadly languor, through
cause silently borne, with clear sight and calm
courage, he looked into his open grave.
What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes,
whose lips may tell-what brilliant broken
plans, what baff1ed, high ambitions, what
suddering of strong, warm, manhood's
friendships, what bitter rendiDg Of sweet
household ties Behind him proud, expect
ant nation, a great host OF sustaining friends,
a cherished and happy mother, wear.
ing the full, rich hoDors OF
her early toll and tears; the wife of his youth,
whose whole life lay in his; the little boys not
yet emerged from childhood's day of frolic;
the fair, young daughter; the sturdy sons just
sprlnging into closest companionship, claim.
ing every day, and every day rewarding a
fathers love and care; and in his heart the
eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand.
Before him, desolatiou and great darkn IS!
And his soul was not shaken. His country.
men were thrilled with, instant, profound, aud
universal sympathy. Masterful in his mortal
weakness. he became the center OF nations
love, enshrined in the prayers Of world. But
all the love and all the sympathy could not
share with him his suffering. He trod the
wine.press alone With unfaltering front he
faced death. With unfailing tenderness he
took leave OF life. Above the demonac hiss
of the assassin's bullet he heard the voice OF
God With simple resignation he bowed to
the Divine decree.
As the end drew near, his early craving for
the sea returned. The stately mansion of
power hadeAen raised to him the wearsome
hospital of pain, and he begged to be taken
from its prison walls, from its oppressive,
sitting air, from its hrmelessnes and its hope
lessness. Gently, silently, the love Of great
people bore the pale sufferer to the longed-for
healing of the sea, to live or die, as God should
will, within sight of its heavipg pillows,
within sound OF it's manifold voices. With
wan, fevered face tenderly lifted 10 the cooling
breeze, he looked out wistfuly upon the
oceans changing wonders; on its far sails,