Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-02-04
JAMES a. BLAINE.

bia1ne II ueau DurlnR the week just
passed, that sentence has been repeated
by millions of lips, creating sorrow and
regret in every portion Of the great
domain oyer which the stars and stripes
are floating. Never since the tragic
death of Abraham Lincoln has any
event awakened sentiment that would
compare with the wave Of mourning,
which has swept the nation from ocean
TO ocean, since the publication Of the
sad news that the great stateman had
passed away. At IL o'clock a. m. FRI
day, Jan. 9th, his suffering ceased, and
the long season of pain was peacefully
terminated, in the presence Of the sur
viving members of the Blaine family.
On Monday, the 30th, the mortal re-
mains were inferred in Oak Hill Gene
terry, at Georgetown, one Of the suburbs
Of the national capital. ...-Aa.A-~---s....--
Americas most beloved son has de-
parted from her shores, and the nation
mourns him IA man was never mourned
before. The Grim Reaper has gathered
the precious sheaf, the solemn benedic-
ton has been pronounced, the tears Of
bitter sorrow have been wept, ana the
people turn away from the tomb
Of Blaine, With the knowledge that
there is a void in our national life
which can never be filled again. Other
men as capable, As brilliant, as truly
great, will no doubt in the future fill the
positions which he has honored with
his presence the great heart Of the
union will pulsate as regularly as it did
when he lived, but Blaine has gone, and
arother Blaine there never will be-
There is nothing partisan, nothing Sec
tional. nothing sectarian in the grief
that his death has caused. Every
American citizen, who can appreciate
greatness, bows his head in recognition
ofan irrsparable loss sustained by his
country. Plumed knight though he
was, greatest leader of great party, he
was an American before he was n parti-
san. and that was the real secret Of
his greatness. The statesman in him
overshadowed the politician, and that
no doubt, is the only reason he never
became president. In the execution Of
his plans for his country and his people,
he made enemies, not only Of party but
principle, who were as bitter as his
friends were true. When the priced
gift of the people was almost his, he
lost it because he could not stoop to
compromising concessions and concilia-
tons. Blaine did not ride into promi-
nence on the crest Of some great event.
He was not the creation of an hour
which tried mems souls, and made
heroes. He was OF the opposite type.
His genius, his innate greatness, forced
him TO tho front in an era OF peace and
plenty, it won him honor after honor,
and finally crowned him with the un-
selfish love and unqualified confidence
Of millions Of his fellow citizens
Blaine's life was not perfect one. Had
he been less fallible, he would have
been less humane, and consequently
less loved. He shared with his coun-
trymen the weaknesses. the failures,
the ambitions and disappointnents Of
mortal existence. But his patriotism,
his loye Of country and everything that
pertained thereto, and his desire to
raise it up and glorify it, were ever in
the ascendency. That one purpose was
apparent in his daily life, in every act of
like bright star of hope and promise
it shone over the goal he sought. and
hallowed the ambition which led him
in that direction. 1t made him the
Blaine we loved in life, the Blaine we
mourn to-day. The citizenship which
Washington founded, which Lincoln
perpetuated, Blaine raised to m emf
nence only dreamed of and hoped for,
by his predecessors. II was his life
work to make it more precious to those
who possessed il, to make it respected
in every part of the universe where
civilization reigns. Only the God who
created him knows why he was taken
away when.he fruits of his life were but
fairly ripening. 1t may be that his
grand accomplishments, his illustrisus
example, will be more potent for
good, since he is dead than they were
in life, but as was said of Daniel Web
ster, more than a generation ago, "the
world will be lonesome for him." Until
the present generation has passed away
keen sense Of personal loss will be felt,
and posterity will know him as q states
man without a peer in history. the
grandest and noblest of American pro-
ductions. 1t was he Of whom the poet
sang
Who'er amidst the sons
OF reason, valor. liberty and virtue,
Displays distinguished merit, Is a noble
OF Natures own creating.