Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1882-03-03
Garfield in Con greGs.

ltTom blAlnes EulOBy.l
The great measure of Gar6eld's fame was
filed by his service in the House of Represen-
tatives His military life, illustrated by hon
orable performance, and rich in promise, was,
as he himself felt, prematurely terminated
and necessarily incomplete. Speculation as
to what he might have done in a field where
the great prizes SO few cannot be profta-
BILE. 1t is sufficient to say that as a soldier he
did his duty bravely he did it intelligently !;
he won an enviable fame, and he retired from
the service without blot or breath against
him. As lawyer, though admirably equip
ped for the profession, he can scarcely be
said to have entered on its practice. The few
efforts he made at the bar were distinguished
by the same high order of talent which he
exhibited on every field where he was put to
the test and if man may be accepted as a
competent judge of his own capacities and
adaptations, the law was the profession to
which Garfield should have devoted himself
But fate ordained otherwise, and his reputa-
ton in history will rest largely upon his SER
vice in the House of Representatives. That
service was exceptionally long. He was nine
times cOnsecutvely chosen to the House, an
honor enjoyed by not more than six other
representatives of the more than 5000 who
have been elected from the organization of
the government to this hour.
AS parliamentary orator, as a debater on
an issue squarey joined, where the position
had been chosen and the ground laid out,
Garfield must be assigned very high rank.
More, perhaps than any man with whom he
was associated in public life, he gave careful
and systematic study to public questions, and
he came to every discussion in which he took
part with elaborate and complete preparation.
He was a steady and indefatigable worker.
Those who imagine that talent or genius can
supply the place or achieve the results of la.
Dor will find no encouragement in Garheld's
life. In preliminary work he was apt, rapid
and skillful. He possessed in a high degree
the power of readily absorbing ideas and facts,
and, like DIR. johnson, had the art of getting
from a book all that was of value in il by a
reading apparently so quick and cursory that
it seemed like a mere glance at the table of
contents. He was a prominently fair and
candid man in debate, took no petty adVant-
age stopped to no unworthy methods, avoid
ed personal illusions, rarely appealed to
prejudice, did not seek to inhame passion.
He had quicker eye for the strong point of
his adversary than for his weak point, and on
his own side he so marshaled his weighty ar
guments as to make his hearers forget any
possible lack in the complete strength of his
position. He had habit of stating his oppo-
nents side with such amplitude of fairness
and such liberality of concession that his fol-
lowers often complained that he was giving
his case away. But never in his prolonged
participation in the proceedings of the House
did he give his case away, or fail in the judg-
ment of competent and impartial listeners to
gain tho mastery.
Those unfamiliar with Garield'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 gen
Grafton of public men to which he belonged
has contributed so much that will be vaiua.
BILE for future reference. His speeches are
numerous, many of them brilliant, all of them
well studied, carefully phrased, and e1haus-
tive of the subject under consideration. Col
leoted from the scattered pages of 80 royal &C.
tavo volumes of the Congressional Record
they would present an invaluable compendi-
um of the political history of the most impor-
tant era through which the national govern
ment has ever passed. When the history of
this period shall be impartially written, when
war legislation, measures of reconstruction,
protection of human rights, amendments to
the constitution, maintenance of public cred
it, steps toward specie resumption, true theo-
ries of revenue may be reviewed, unsurround-
ed by prejudice and disconnected from parti-
sanism, the speeches Of Garfield will be est