r the sublime and the beautiful with,
possibly, something of his superabundance. In his faith and his
magnanimity, in his power of statement, in 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, confronted with obstacles that would daunt any but the dauntless,
reviled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those whose
supposed rights he is forced to invade, still labors with serene courage
for the amelioration of Ireland and for the honor of the English name.

"Garfield's nomination to the presidency, while not predicted or
anticipated, was not a 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. It was not mere chance that brought him this high honor. 'We
must,' says Mr. Emerson, 'reckon success a constitutional trait. If Eric
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 Newfoundland. But take Eric out and
put in a stronger and bolder man, and the ships will sail six hundred,
one thousand, fifteen hundred miles farther and reach Labrador and New
England. There is no chance in results.'

"As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met
with a storm of detraction at the very hour of his nomination, and it
continued with increasing 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?

* * * * *

"Surely, if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of this
world, on that quiet July morning, James A. Garfield may well have been
a happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted him; no slightest premonition
of danger clouded his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant.
One moment he stood erect, strong, confident in the years stretching
peacefully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless,
doomed to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and the grave.

"Great in life,