The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-14
ISLANDERS OF PUBLIC MEN.


The truth of this utterance, spoken of one
Of the noblest and most heroic characters in all
the worlds history, viii not be questioned.
James Abram Garfield. the memory of whose
deeds and sufferings must ever be shrine Of
American patriotism, for twenty years was
familiar indeed with people of Guiteau's heart.
In his upward march toward the fame in
which his name is now emoalmed, on either
side he was maligned and harassed by tiger
hearted slanderers, whose relentless perseeu-
ton never let up until their victim lay fatally
wounded at the hands Of the assassin whose
frenzy, only more bold than that of his fell
lows, spent itself in taking his life instead Of
the no less infamous crime of stabbing his
character. The penalty of greatness can only
be endured by the great, and that public
man can serenely walk forward in the line
of duty, unmindful of the assaults Of petty
defamers, is one Of the surest evidences
Of exalted character The great, noble
hearted Lincoln passed through one Of the
! cruelest gauntlets Of merclless criticism, all
the way from his home in Springfield up to
the very hour that it eliminated in his
death at the hands of the man who only out
did his fellows, too cowardly to risk life in
concentrating their aims. Oliver P, Morton,
the soldier statesman, the great war Governor
of his times, never knew an hour that he was
not illuminated, and even yet the jackals of
enyious hatred snarl about his honored grave.
But Morton, like Lincoln, walked on, and
over, and past all his constituencies defamers,
and filed higher niche in the temple Of fame
than any and all who maligned him dare even
aspire to. So with General Grant. while he
was at the front, and when he came back from
victory, bringing a preserved government
with him. he, too, was made the target Of al
most every Islander that could be conjured up,
and the ibels never ceased as long as he was
in public life, and have scarcely yet been
hushed, now. that he is private citizen. But
| Ulysses s. Grant as leader Of the Union
armies and as President of the reunited
country he had done so much to save,
stands fer above the reach Of the
shafts of SANDER that were aimed at
him, while his defamers everywhere have
sunk into the merited Oblivion Of infany.
Then Garfield, entering the field of public
duty little later than the others, encoun-
tered the same food Of slanderous abuse, set
in motion by the same men who had never
| been able to say enough against all who were
loyal and leaders among the people. The men
who denounced Lincoln as AN ape, "a boor, =
"a snutty old tyrant, easily paved the way
to the damnable malignity and hatred that
inspired the heart Of his assassin to deem it
patriotic duty to take his life at an hour
when the dawn Of peace had begun to glim-
mer along the horizon The men all over the
land, here in indianapolis and in country viii
lagos, who barked at the heels of Garfield and
chalked their infamous libels on dead walls
and fences were but the abettors Of Guiteau,
and put into his heart the desperate resolve
torid the people Of a man he deemed corrupt
and conscienceless. That Morton and Grant
escaped the assassin's bullet is due only to
the fact that none among the assassins Of
their characters had the nerve to ply the knife
or fire pistol.
The names Of Lincoln, and Grant, and
Garfield are among the greatest that the coun-
try has produced, while that Of Morton stands
next to them as one Of the most fearless
patriots Of the age Fair-minded men, Of
whatever partisan bias, vie with each other to
do them honor. But the country seems to
have learned nothing from the past, and the
same disreputable methods are pursued
against the public men Of to-day. The assas-
sins Of character are as bold and heartless
now as when the killing of Lincoln and of
Garfield was distorted into a patriotic duty.
The marvel is that James G. Blaine escaped
bullet from the same hand that took the life
Of his great friend Blaine is following in the
footsteps of Garfield, and like Garfield living
or dead, he will grandly rise above his calum-
niators in the history Of his country and in
the hearts Of his countryinen. The very same
men who were mean enough to charge Garfield
with having sold his honor for beggarly sum
Of money are yelping around Blaine. Their
object is the same, and If, BY chance, some
one be found who may be wrought up to the
proper pitch Of madness the country may once
more be called to follow the bier of amurdered
President. Is not the terrible lesson Of the
past enough, Or must the country go on to
fresh tragedies9 The blood of murdered
Presidents is upon all who uttered or coun-
tenanced the baseless SANDERS INF unon NH.