LETTERS OF CONDOLENCE.

547

appreciating such an example of Christian faith and manly fortitude. This exemplary picture has been made complete by your own contributions to its noble and touching features, on which I only forbear to dwell because I am directly addressing you. I beg to have my respectful compliments and congratulations conveyed to the President, and to remain, dear madam, with great esteem,

Your most faithful servant,

W. E. GLADSTONE.

To this Secretary Blaine replied by cable:

WASHINGTON, July 22d 1881.

*

LOWELL, Minister, London: I have laid before Mrs. Garfield the note of Mr. Gladstone, just received * I am requested by her to say, that among the many thousand manifestations of interest and expressions of sympathy, which have reached her, none had more deeply touched her than the kind words of Mr. Gladstone. His own solicitude and condolence are received with gratitude. But far beyond this she recognized, that Mr. Gladstone rightfully speaks for the people of the British Isles, whose sympathy in this national and personal affliction has been as quick and as sincere as that of her own countrymen. Her chief pleasure in Mr. Gladstone's cordial letter is found in the comfort, which it brings to her husband. The President is cheered and pleased on his painful and weary way to health by the many messages of sympathy which, in his returning strength, he safely receives and most gratetully appreciates.

BLAINE, Secretary.

On the Continent, the head of every country hastened to offer sympathy. The Emperors of Austria and Germany; the Kings of Sweden and Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, and Spain; the Czar of Russia; the Sultan of Turkey;

the Presidents of France and Switzerland; hundreds of statesmen and distinguished men sent through various channels to Washington kind words and wishes from sympathetic hearts.

At home, the universal expression of sympathy found appropriate channels in the governors of States, Mayors of cities, legislatures, boards of trade, clubs, associations, conventions of every description, grand juries, churches, etc., etc. The Souh particularly manifested a most noble sympathy. Governor R. W. Cobb, of Alabama, telegraphed:

Reports of the favorable indications gladden the hearts of Alabamans, who profoundly sympathize with the President and his family, and bitterly denounce the cowardly and brutal attempt on his life. The great peril, through which he is passing draws all men to him; and he will resume his duties with a more generous and patriotic support from the people of the whole country.

Congressman E. W. Robertson telegraphed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana :

The heartfelt, outspoken sorrow of our people at the late dastardly attempt upon the life of the President, prompts me to express their prayerful hopes for his speedy recovery.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic promulgated the following order: HEAD-QUARTERS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC,

BOSTON, July 7th, 1881.

[General Order, No. 42.]

Awaiting the fateful issue, which hangs like a pall over our land, grateful for the glimpse of sunshine through the

THE BENCH AND PULPIT.

549

dark cloud, the soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic tender their old comrade in arms, the stricken President, their sympathy and love. What lies behind the veil of the future we may not seek to know; but, remembering, that the same Almighty, who guided us to victory, is beside our fallen comrade, let us cast out all our fears, and send to the throne of grace, not a cry of despair, but a prayer of hope and faith in the Divine wisdom and love.

(Signed)

GEO. S. MERRILL, Commander-in-Chief.

WILLIAM M. OLIN, Adjutant-General.

The bench took notice of the national calamity. Said Judge Ludlow of Philadelphia, in charging the Grand Jury for the July Term:

We meet to-day under adverse circumstances; we are under the shadow of a great cloud, and our hearts beat with alternate hope and fear; we do not yet know what the end will be, but this we all understand, that law and order must prevail; that the constituted authorities must be respected and sustained; and woe betide the man, who dare to raise even so much as his little finger against the integrity of the Republic or against the life or lives of its lawfully elected officers. I care not what may be your politics, faith, or religious feelings. I know this, that as Americans, you represent not only the citizens of this country, but, in a sense, Americans everywhere all over this land, and you will join with me in as severe a condemnation of this anti-American crime, as can be uttered in human language, and in a devout prayer to the Almighty, that the life of the legally elected and inaugurated President of the United States may be spared to the nation and to his family.

The church was equally ready. Prayers were offered in every pulpit in the land. Special services

were held, imploring the Almighty to spare the President's life.

The movement of sympathy was indeed uni versal from more than one hundred millions of men. It was expected, as a matter of course, that those closely identified with him by long years of personal and political association, would, out of the fullness of their affection, mingle their tears with those of his kindred; but that so eager inquiries and tender messages of sympathy should come from all over the world, is the most welcome evidence that all the world's akin. From every nook and corner of our land messages were sent, freighted with loving regard; and the cables, which lay beneath the ocean, were kept busy night and day, transmitting the sympathy of the rulers, and princes, and peoples of all civilized nations of the globe.

C

HARLES JULES GUITEAU, the assassin, is a man of about forty years of age, of

French descent. He is five feet five inches in height, of sandy complexion, and slender. He wears a mustache and thin chin whiskers, slightly tinged with gray. His sunken cheeks and widely separated eyes give him a sullen appearance. He has for some years been a person of disordered mind and restless habits. Nominally he is a lawyer, although it does not appear, that he ever had any practice except among persons of the lowest social and moral rank. His reputation was bad, wherever he went. He was at times a religious enthusiast. In the summer of 1880, he turned his attention to politics, apparently in the hope of gaining some political preferment.

One, who knows him, gives this account of him: "He appears to have been the only one of the children tainted with his father's eccentricities. When the family left the Oneida Community, Charles, then fifteen or sixteen years old, was left behind. He afterward went to Chicago, where he studied law, being cared for, and supplied with money, by his father. After completing his studies,