The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-02-28


, respective states, and on foreign mission
of great consequence. but smong all
none grew 80 RAPIDLY, none so firmly 81
Garfield. As l said Of Teyelsn, Of BIZ
parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded
Z because all the world in concert could
not have kept him in the background
and because when once ia tbs front, be
played bis part with prompt intrepid
ity and q commanding ease that Were
but the outwsrd symptoms of the i'm
mense reserves o. energy on which il
was in his power to draw. Indeed, the
apparently reserved force which
Garfield possessed w&s one OF
his great characteristics. He rever Gid
20 well but tba. it seemed be easily could
have done better. He never expended
so much strength but that he seemed to
be hoidipg additional power at call.
This is one Of the hsppiest and rsrest dis
tinctions of an effective leader, and often
counts for as much in persusdipg sn as
gembly as the eloquent and leborate ar
gument which distinguished his service
in the House Of Representatives. His
military life, illustrated by honorable
performance and rich in promise, was, As
he himself felt, premstursly terminated
and necessarily incomplete. Speculation
as to what he might have done in q field
where the great prizes AreIso few cannot
| be profitable. 1t is sufficient 10 say that
as soldier he did duty brsvelJ; he did it
| intelligently; he won an enviable fame,
and he retired from the service without =
blot or breath against him.
AS q lawyer, though admirably
equipped for the profession, he can
scarcely be sAid to have entered on its
practice. The few efforts made at the
bar were distinguished by the Same high
order Of talent which he exhibited on
every field on which be was put to the
test, and il a man may be accepted as a
competent judge OF his own capacities
and adaptations, the law was the profess
Iio1 to which Garfield should have de-
voted himself; but fate ordained other
| wise, and his republican history will rest
! largely upon his service in the House Of
| Representatives. That service was ex-
ceptionAlly long. He was nine times con-
secutively congressman to the House, an
| henOr enjoyed 6y not more than six other
| republicans Of the more than a thousand
who have been elected from the organi-
cation of the government TO this hour.
As parliamentary orator, as a dsbater
On an Issue squarely Joined where the
laid out, Gsrfsld must be assigned @
very high rank, more so perhaps than
any man with whom he was associated
in public life. He gave careful and
Iystem attic study TO public questions, and
he came TO every discussion. in which
he took part. with preparation. He was
steady and indefatigable worker.
Those who imagine that talent or genius
can supply the place, or achieve the re-
suits of labor, will fud no encouragement
IN Garfeld's life. In preliminary
work he was apt, rapid, and skillful. He
possessed in high degree the power of
readily absorbing ideas and facts, and
| like DR.. johnson, had the art of getting
from ?. book all that was of value in it,
| by reading apparently so quick and
| cursOry that it seemed like 3 mere glance
At the table Of contents. He was pre-
eminently fair and candid man Ia de-
! bate, and took NO petty advantage,
| stopped tono unworthy method, avoided
personal alteration, rarely appealed to
| PREF Cdice, and did not seek to inhsme
passion. He had = quicker eye for
the strong point OF his adversary than
for lis weak point, and on his own side
he so marshaled his Weighty arguments
as to make his hearers forget any pos
sibe lacL in the complete strength of his
position. He hsd 8 habit of stating
his opponents side with such amplitude
Of fairness and such significance sDd
liberaity Of concession that his folio ers
often complained that be was giving his
cause away; but never, in his prolonged
participation 10 the proceedings Of The
House, did he give mis- case away or fail in
the judgment OF competent and impartial
listeners to gain the mastery. These
characteristics which marked Garfeld as
. great debater did not. however, make
him great parliamentary leader. A
pRrlsm enta-y leader, as that term is IN
derstoOd wherever 8 free representative
government exists, is necessarily and
very strictly the organ Of his party. AMI
ardent American defined the instructive
warmth OF patriotism when he offered
the toast, sour country: always ri2h:,
but right or wrong. our country" A
parliamentary leader has body of fol-
lowers that will do and dare and
die for q cause, is one who believes
his party always right, but right or
wrong, is for his party. The more i'm
portant or exacting duty devolves upon
hin than the selection of the field and
the time for a contest. He must know
not merely how to strike; he often skill
fully avoids the strength Of his oppe-
nent's position, and scstters confusion in
IFS ranks by attacking an exposed point
where really the right business Of the
cause and strength of the logical in
trenchments are against him. He con-
euers often both against the right and |
heavy bsttalions, as when young Charles |
Fox, in the days of history, carried tn |
House OF Commons against justice,
sgsinst imminent rights, against his
own CONVICTIONS, il indeed at that period |
Fox had con victions, aud in obedience to |
a tyrAnnical sovereign, drove Wilkes |
from the seat to which the electors of |
Middlesex had chosen him, and |
installed Luttrell ia defiance, not merely |
OF Law, but Of. public decency. |
For An achievement of this kind Gar
fed wss disqualified By the tenure OF his |
mind, By the honesty of his heart, by his |
conscience, and by every instinct and as
plrstlon of his nature. The three most
distinguished parliamentary persons |
hitherto developed in this country are
Mr.. Clay, Mr.. Douglass and TbAddsus
Stevens. Each WIS q man Of consum-
mate ability, of great esrnestness ana in
tense personality, differing each from the
o hers, and yet With the signal trait
In commoE-the power to command. In