Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1882-04-03

pcoU lCdtuIeS Ill tlle SlIOIS, IluepcHu-
ent course of Sir Robert Peel, and
striking resemblances are discernible
in the most promising of modern con-
servatives, who died too early for his
country and his fame, the Lord
George Bentick. He had all of
Burke's love for the sublime and the
beautiful, with, possibly, some of his
superabundance and in his faith and
his magnanimity, in his power of
statement, in his subtle analysis, in
his faultless logic, in his love of lit
erature, in his wealth and world of
illustration, one is reminded 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 re-
lieve as bitterly as by those whose
supposed rights he is forced to in
wade, still labors with serene courage
for the amelioration of Ireland and
for the honor Of the English name.
THE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT IN HIS
CHARACTER.
The religious element in Garfield S
character was deep and earnest. In
his early youth he espoused the faith
of the Disciples, sect of that great
Baptist Communion, which in differ
ent ecclesiastical establishments is so
numerous and influential throughout
all parts of the United States. But
the broadening tendency of his mind
and his active spirit of inquiry were
early apparent and carried him be-
yond the dogmas of sect and the re-
straints of association. In selecting
a college in which to continue his ed
ucation he rejected Bethany, though
presided over by Alexander Camp
bell, the greatest preacher of his
church. His reasons were charac-
teristic; first Bethany leaned too
heavily toward slavery; and second,
that being himself a Disciple and the
son of Disciple parents, he had little
acquaintance with people of other be-
liefs, and he thought it would make
HIM more liberal, quoting his own
words, both in his religious and gen
eral views to go into new circle and
be under new influences.
The liberal tendency which he an
ticipated as the results of wider cul-
ture was fully realized. He was
emancipated from mere sectarian be-
lief, and with eager interest pushed
his Investigations in the direction of
modern progressive tho ught. He fol-
lowed with quickening step in the
paths of exploration and speculation
so fearlessly trodden by Darwin, by
Huxley, by Tyndall, and by other liv-
ing SCIENTISTS of The radical and adj
vanced type. His own church bind
ing its disciples by no formulated
creed, but accepting the Old and New
Testaments as the word of God with
unbiased liberality of Interpretation,
favored, if it did not stimulate, the
spirit of investigation. It's members
profess with sincerity and profess
only, to be of one mind and one faith
with those who Immediately followed
the master, and who were first called
Christians at Antioch.
But however high Garfield reasoned
of ''fxed fate, free will, foreknowl-
edge absolute, he was never sepa-
rated from the Church of the Disci-
Piles in his affections and in his asso-
Citations. For him it held the ark OF
the covenant To him it was the gate
of heaven. The world of religious
belief is full of solecisms and contra
dictions. A philosophic observer de
clares that men by the thousands vii
die in defence of creed whose doc
trines they do not comprehend anC
whose tenets they habitually violate
1t is equally true, that men by th
thousand will cling to church organ
izations with instructive and undyins
fidelity when their belief in mature
years is radically different from tina
, which inspired them as neophytes.
But after this range of speculation
and this latitude of doubt, CARTEL
2 came back always with freshness an
' delight to the simpler instincts of rt
: ligious faith, which, earnestly in
/ planted longest survive. Not man
weeks before his assassination, wall
t ING on the banks of the Potomac wit
f friend, and conversing on thos
4. topics of personal religion, concerr
e ing which noble natures have an III
e conquerable reserve, he said that b
:, found the Lords Prayer and othe
a simple petitions learned in infanc
e infinitely restful to him, not merel
n in their stated repetition, but in the
It casual and frequent recall as he wei
II about the daily duties of life. Ce
,e tain texts of Scriptures had vel
$ strong hold on his memory and b
IS heart. He heard, while in Edinbure
J. some years ago, an eminent ScotC
lie preacher who prefaced his sermc
re with reading the eighth chapter
IF the Epistle to the Romans, whic
IF book had been the subject of caref
study with Garfield during all his +
m ligious life. He was greatly impress
it ed by the elocution of the preache
rt and declared that it had impaired
IN new and deeper meaning to the m
ly iestic utterances of Saint Paul. I
ne referred often in after years to th
a memorable service, and dwelt wi