Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-02-28
ebrsetts Senator without an intellectual

chrsetts Senator without an intellectual
peer.
In English parliamentary history, as In our
own. the leaders in the House of Commons
present points of essential difference from
Garfield. But some of his methods recall
the best features in the strong, independent
course of Sir Robert Peel, and striking re-
semblances are discernible in that most
promising of modern conservatives, who
died too early for his country and his fame,
the Lord George Bentinck. He had all CT
Burke's love for the sublime and the beauti-
FIJI. with, possibly, something of his super
abundance and in his faith and his mag
nanimity, in his power of statement, III his
subtle analysis, in his faultless logic, in his
love of literature, in his wealth and world
of illustration, one is reminded of that great
English statesman Of to-day, who, con-
fronted with obstacles that would daunt any
but the dauntless, reviled by those whom
he would relieve as bitterly as by those
labors with serene courage for the ameliora-
ton of Ireland, and for the honor of the
English name.
Garfeld's nomination to the Presidency,
while not predicted or anticipated, was not
surprise to the country. His prominence
in Congress, his solid qualities, his wide
reputation, strengthened by his then recent
election as Senator from Ohio, kept him in
the public eye as a man occupying the very
highest rank among those entitled to be
called statesmen. 1t was not mere chance
that brought him this high honor. 'We
must" says Mr.. Emerson, ''reckon success
constitutional trait. If Erick is in robust
health and has slept well and is at the top
of his condition, and thirty years old at his
departure from Greenland, he will steer
west and his ships will reach New Found
land. But take Eric out and put in a
stronger and bolder man and the ships will
sail six hundred, one thousand, fifteen hun
| dred miles farther and reach Labrador and
New England. There is no chance in re-
| suits"
| AS candidate, Garfield steadily grew in
| popular favor. He was met with a storm
of detraction at the very hour of his nomi-
nation, and it continued with increas-
ing volume and momentum until the close
of his victorious campaign:
| No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape; backwounding calumny
| The whitest virtue strikes. What king SO
strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue
Under it all he was calm and strong, and
contident never lost his self-possession, did
no unwise act, spoke no hasty, or i'll
C. nsidered word Indeed nothing in his
whole life is more remarkable or more
creditable than his bearing through those
five full months of vituperation-a prolonged
agony of trial to sensitive man, q con-
slant and cruel draft upon the powers of
moral endurance. The great mass of these
unjust imputations passed unnoticed, and
with the general debris of the campaign fell
| into oblivion. But in few instances the
iron entered his soul and he died with the
injury unforgotten if not unforgiven.
One aspect of Garfeld's candidacy was
unprecedented. Never before, in the his
tory OF partisan contests in this country,
| had a successful President al candidate
| spoken freely on passing events and cur>
rent issues. To attempt anything of the
| kind seemed novel, rash, and even desper.
ate. The older class of voters recalled the
unfortunate Alabama letter, in which Mr.
| Clay Was supposed to have signed his po>
litical death warrant. They remem bered
al, o the hot-temEerad effusion by which
q; neral Scott lost large share of his pop
ularity before bis nomination, and the un,
fortunate speeches which rapidly cor sum-
ed the remainder. The younger voters had
seen Mr.. Greedy in series of vigorous and
original addresses, p, epariDg the pathwa
for his own defeat Unmindful of these
warnings, unbeeding the advice of friends,
Garfield spoke to large crowds as he jour>
neyed to and form New York in August, to
great multitude in that city, to delega-
| tons end populations of every kind that
called at ID ento- during the summer and
autumn. With innum cradle critics. watch
full and eager to catch a phrase that mig bit
be turned into odium or ridicule, or a SEN
81 hat - he Il faA
his party's injury, CARTEL did not trip or
halt in any one of his seventy speeches.
| This seems all the more remarkable when
it is remem bered that he did not write hat
he said, and yet spoke with such logical
consecutiveness of thought and such ad
Ipirable precision of phrase as to defy the
accident of misreport and malignity OF
| misrepresentation.
In the beginning of his Presidential life
Garfeld's experience did not yield him
| pleasure or satisfaction. The duties that
engross so large portion ofthe President
time were distasteful to him, and were un-
favorably contrasted with his legislative
work. Il have been dealing all these
years with IDEAS" he impstiently exclaim.
ed one day, land here l am dealing only
with persons. l have been heretofore
| treating of the fundamental principles Of
government and here l am considering al
day whether A or shall be appointed tc
this or that Office" He was earnestly seek
'ng some practical way of correcting the
evils arising from the distribution of over
grown and unwieldy pstronage-evis al
wa appreciated and often discussed BY
him, but whose magnitude had been more
deeply impressed upon his mind since hi:
accession to the Presidency. Had ht
lived, a comprehensive Improvement il
the mode of appointment and in the tenur,
of office would have been proposed by i'm
and with the aid of Congress no doubt per
fected.
But, while many of the Executive dutie
were not grateful TO him, he was assiduou
and conscientious in their discharge. From
the very outset he exhibited administrative
talent OF high order. He grasped th,
helm of office with the hand of master
In this respect indeed he constantly sur
prised many who were most intimately as
ISOLATED with him in the government, ant
especially those who had feared that h.
might be lacking in the executive faculty
His disposition of business was orderly ant
rapid. His power of analysis, and his skill
in classification. enabled him to dispatch
vast mass of detail with singular ant
promptness and ease His Cabinet meet
iogs were admirably conducted His clea
presentation of official subjects, his well
considered suggestion of topics on whicl
discussion was invited, his quick decision
|
thoroughness of mental training as rar
as bis natural ability and his facile adapta
ton to new and enlarged field of labor
With perfect comprehension of all tn
inheritances of the war, with a cool calcu
lation of the obstacles in his way, impellet
always by a generous enthusiasm, CARTEL,
conceived that much might be done by hi
administration towards restoring harmon,
betw cen the different sections of the Union
. | II q WIS fn South nd b
the people. As early as April he had in
efectually endeavored to arrange for tri]
TO Nashville, whittier he had been invited
and he was again disappointed few week
later to find that he could not go to Soutl
r Carolina to attend the centennial celebra
ton of the victory of the CJwpens. Blu
for the autumn he indefinitely counted OIL
being present at three memorable assem-
blies in the South, the celebration at York
town, the opening of the Cotton Exposition
at Atlanta, and the meeting of the Army O
the Cumberland at Chattanooea. He wa