That he had faults would hardly be denied by those who knew him and loved him with the fondest and most enthusiastic love. But as the spots on the sun cannot be seen without the strongest glasses, through its brilliant shining, so the largeness of nature and the completeness of culture of Garfield obscure what faults he had. The future character-chemist must be allowed to put this great and prominent historic character among the icebergs of coldest criticism, and prove whether it will shrink or not.

Perhaps no better way can be adopted by which to reach the present estimate than to allow those to speak who knew President Garfield well, and who had watched his career with a critical as well as an admiring eye. This will also lay a good corner-stone of truth from which future measurements may be taken.

In an eloquent and striking speech before the Cumberland Valley Editorial Association, in Pennsylvania, Mr. Charles E. Smith, editor of the Philadelphia Press, and formerly of the Albany Evening Journal, draws a graphic parallel between William of Orange, "the Washington of his earlier age," and President Garfield. At the moment in which he spoke the President lay almost beyond hope, and the public mind was hushed in expectation of the fatal issue. We can imagine the deep effect, at such a time, of the orator's opening words, which were quoted, as he said, from Motley's "matchless history" of the Rise of the Dutch Republic: "As long as he lived he was the guiding star of a whole brave nation, and when he died the little children cried in the streets."

Mr. Smith, with great felicity, pursues the comparison, quoting from Motley upon William words which have a singular applicability to General Garfield. There were many, doubtless, who thought a few months ago that the President's perfect suavity might indicate want of firm

ness; and Motley says of William, in words that might be written of Garfield, "Whether originally of a timid temperament or not, he was certainly possessed of perfect courage at last."

Dr. Porter, of Yale College, who knew him personally,

says:

"I cannot be mistaken in saying that President Garfield was a man of a singularly broad and generous humanity. I felt this when, a few years since, I took his hand for the first time. All that I have since observed or learned has confirmed this first impression. His interest in his kind was warm, intense and wide. It was fresh, unexhausted, and unfeigned, and forcibly expressed by look and word and manner. This characteristic made him a leader of men, appointed as such by a divine sanction, and acknowledged to be such by common consent, in whatever assembly or society he appeared or moved. Not this alone, indeed, but this joined to his other gifts of both head and heart. Without this quick and noble generosity, his call to leadership would not have been so loud and clear. This sympathy with men gave him the tact which could come only from a sensitive appreciation of the changing thoughts and feelings of the individuals and assemblies whom he learned to influence and control. This gave him power over his opponents, who could not but respond to his noble generosity even when writhing under his scathing rebuke or recoiling before the rushing charges of his invective. Among his friends and fellow-partisans it exalted him to the place of supremacy by the consent of all, for all were disarmed by his loving magnanimity of any possible jealous or envious feeling. A similar generous humanity made Henry Clay the leader of his party for scores of years; only in Mr. Clay it lacked much of the finer ethical quality which distinguished President Garfield. In both, also, a certain noble simplicity of address and manner imparted a chivalrous air to each, although in Mr. Garfield this was seemingly the result of Nature alone. Both were charged with occasional compliances and vacillations of purpose; possibly by men who have a feeble capacity to

understand or believe in the impulses of magnanimous concessions and unselfish compromises. No man whose opinion is worth regarding, however, ever charged President Garfield with a surrender of a principle or a friend for selfish or sordid ends."

The editor of Harper's Weekly, always clear in his utterances and generally just in his judgments, said:

"The career of General Garfield was made familiar to the country last year, and its truly American character, his steady advance from obscure poverty to distinction gained wholly by fine qualities, his romantic bravery in war, his intelligent diligence and great ability in peace, his public spirit in the best sense, aroused a peculiar personal interest, which the events of his illness have deepened into personal affection. His strong political convictions, and the difficult conditions of public life, which no man could more fully appreciate, never made him a mere partisan politician, but in every exigency he showed the high spirit of a statesman. His intellect, singularly acute and robust as well as comprehensive, his scholarly habits and instincts, as well as his political conscience and true public spirit, made him a thorough and candid student of public questions, so that his own strong thought was enriched with the wisdom of other men and times, and his step was sure because it was planted upon principles which he understood. If in familiarity with public law and in that knowledge which is gained by long and arduous experience the elder and younger Adams surpassed him, and Jefferson outstripped him in speculative political fancy, no President has excelled him in general cultivation and accomplishment, and in the statesman's temperament and sagacity. The kind of apprehension which is always suggested by men of his disposition, that there might be a want of heroic fibre and moral tenacity, was entirely dissipated by the serene courage of the last days. There are men so just that they seem to see the reason of both sides too clearly for positive decision and action. But General Garfield showed that it was strength, not weakness, which bred the gentleness of his character. He was naturally the leader of his party in the House of Representatives

not only by his personal rectitude and mental ability, but by his more comprehensive knowledge, his sincere and effective oratory, his perfect self-command and urbanity. His Congressional leadership was not dashing like Clay's, nor imperious like Thaddeus Stevens's, but it was persuasive and conciliatory, and left him the friend of the foe whom he foiled. There is no Republican whom Democrats would both more sincerely respect and regret than President Garfield."

At the Hiram Memorial Service held in Cleveland, September 25th, 1881, President Hinsdale said:

"Were I limited to one phrase in which to describe Jas. A. Garfield I-should say, Greatness of nature. With what wealth of noble faculties was he endowed! Close observation, high analytical and generalizing ability, solidity of judgment, depth and purity of feeling, strength of will, power of rhetorical exposition, artistic sense, poetic sentiment, reverence of spirit, and noble courage these are only a few of his great gifts. Were I allowed a second phrase of description, I should add: Richness of culture, fullness of knowledge, breadth of attainment, discipline of all the great faculties of the mind, ripeness of experience, are phrases that describe but imperfectly what study and the friction of life had done for him. Greatness of nature and richness of culture together fitly describe his life and character. And this is in perfect harmony with his own maxim; Every character is the joint product of nature and nurture.'

"One of the most striking facts pertaining to this noble product of nature and nurture was his many-sidedness. Tennyson said of the Duke of Wellington:

'He stood four-square to every wind that blew.'

"This is a striking figure, and it admirably expresses the poet's thought. But General Garfield had many more sides than four. You can hardly take up a point of observation where you will not discover something in him both interesting and striking. He seemed to face in all directions. He faced to law and politics, to science and literature, to arms and the camp, to religion and the Christian ministry, to the Senate and the forum, to the farm and