Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1883-07-05


| through the clear lens of his own under.
standing to others. Hence, he early ac,
quired the habit of going to the root of
things-of the calm, careful, accurate
| presentation of subjects, with candOI
and breadth CT statement, logical con.
sistency, wealth and range of illustra-
| tiOn phenominal, and persuasive and
convincing power, carrying men above
their passions and prejudices to the Sc
cure heights of intellectual conviction
and moral judgment. There can be no
doubt Gar6sld's connection with the
Disciples had marked influence upon
his whole subsequent life and character.
With them there was the largest posi-
BILE liberty without license), in the in
vestigation Of religious truth. 1t is it.
self almost society of religious inqui-
ry in which none are pre-eminent, and
every one may speak, and everybody
criticise. This opportunity he improved,
and the Disciple habit of mind, and face
! to face study Of the Scriptures was an
important element in the heightening
and broadening of his intellectual nature.
This grand idea of personal liberty
which he incorporated into his religious
life, became the central idea of the pO-
litical ethics of which be was the able
advocate and Representative. The special
advantage and benefit derived from his
| teacher life was that splendid power of
condensed classification, coupled with
marvellous strength of statement and
rare aptness of illustration. y capable
critic speaking of his methods as teach
er, says: He strove to awaken the stu
dents faculties; he sought to energiZe
or vitalize them; he revealed the World
to the student, and the student to him
self; he stimulated thought and the hab-
it of observation and reflection, aroused
courage, widened the field of mental
vision and furnished inspiration in un-
limited measures; he was strong in the
forces that drew out the student" 1t
was this broad comprehensive teacher
thoroughness,n not technical in any sense :
this almost epochal, catholic and CEN
tury wide method of generalization that
took him for chief, this greatness in
everything he touched, that lifted him
above the plane of geniuses, for there
was too much of him for regulation
school master, denominationai preach
er, technical case lawyer, party pol
itician, or even a Republican statesman.
He was school master of men, politi-
cal parties and nations upon high and
wide plane, e,after the range of Agazzis or
eGladstone. As Judge Cooley said, "He
large subjects in large way"
|&he foundation work. the composite ma
tWs.pf every speech he delivered, was
Wfo4 4ght out years before in the work
shopS Sf his libraries at Hiram and
WAhAgton. His genius was emphati-
calls the genius of preparation and of
indefatigable work. Here is the key to
this thought in his own language: Men
look with admiring wonder upon great
intellectual effort, like Webster's reply
TO Hayne, and seem to think it leaped
into life by the inspiration of the mo-
ment. But if, by some intellectual
chemistry, we could resolve that mas
terly speech into its several elements of
power, and trace each to its source, we
should find that every constituent force
had been elaborated twenty years be
fore, it may be in some hour of intellec-
tual labor. Occasion, may be the bugle
call that summons an army to battle /;
but the blast of a bugle cannot ever
make soldiers, or win victories" Let
me refer to chapter or two in his con-
gressiOnal life, illustrative. Perhaps
the most powerful and effective speech
that was ever delivered in Congress on
the subject of the resumption of specie
payments, was made by Garfield in the
celebrated discussion led by Gen. Ew-
ing, of Ohio, on his bill to repeal the re-
sumption act. Gen. E. had prepared and
delivered an elaborate, and to the op-
ponents of resumption, an unanswerable
argument against the resumption of
specie payments. The power of that
speech had virtually made Bishop Gov
ernOr of Ohio, in 1877, and its delivery
at the opening of the December session
of Congress, following, in closing the
memorable debate upon the repeal of
the Resumption act, was expected to be
unanswered and unanswerable. Garfield
closed the debate on the Republican
side, and was to be followed by Ewing.
He knew of the methods of Ewing; the
ubstance and range of his argument;
his historical data. He knew that Ew-
ing would paint in strong coors the
financial disasters in England, following
the attempt to return to specie pay
ments, after the Napoleonic wars, and
proving from the example of France,
which, with a less population, had a
greater circulating medium of exchange
than the United States that the ratio of
our currency to our population was far
less than the demands of trade. The two
great historical facts verified manifestly
10y statistics and data rose like huge
granite rocks above the surface of the
broad tempestuous financial sea, appa-
,tnl Nr hn fn1l IF hn
architects and managers of the post
bellum finances in their relation TO the
resumption of specie payments. In
speech of less than one-half hour Gar
field showed that these granite rocks of
historic fact were mere piles of dust,
and when the broad wave OF his resist
less logic rolled against them, they were
washed into the depths of the sea. He
drew into line thereserved battalions Of
his intellect, the aggregated strength of
a dozen years of financial study, and
advancing his line of battle, he utterly
demolished the citadel of Ewings
strength, the hitherto unchallenged ac-
curacy and authority of his historical
data. He showed by authority unques-
toned and convincing that the financial
disaster in England following the Ma
poleonic wars were directly attributable
to the repeal of the Corn laws, and in no
sense connected with the resumption of
specie payments, and that the reason
that France, with smaller population
than ours, had larger amount of cur
rency in circulation, was that in France
the nine-tenths of the business of the
country was done through the medium
of coin exchange among the people,
whilst with us the nine-tenths of our
business was done not by means of cur
rency in circulation, but by means of
checks and drafts drawn upon banks.and
hence if the population Of the two coun-
tries was equal, it would require nine
times as much currency to transact the
exchanges of France as that OF the Uni
ted States.
Another, and perhaps stronger speech,
though not dealing with the abstract
a n I,,k lNa MI