Memories of the Calls 21 - Oration, July Fourth, 1882, Chas. J Call

We are here today to celebrate the one hundreth and sixth anniversary of our nation's Independence, and to rejoice in the peaceful and prosperous condition of our country at present. To celebrate that independence for which our fathers fought, and which is still dear to every true American; and to rejoice in that prosperity which is gained only be perserverance and Industry. 

We represent no secret organization, no sect or denomination, no separate nationality or separate class of society; we are merely the inhabitants of a peaceful and friendly neighborhood. 

When we met a year ago it was with fear and trembling, with sad and anxious hearts, for a wise, just and beloved ruler had been laid low by the hand of an assassin. For eleven long weeks while he suffered and lingered we watched and waited and hoped. But alas our sadness was turned to sorrow for our martyred President was place in the silent tomb. We mourned as only a united and beloved people could mourn. On our public buildings, around our business places and even in our homes the emblems of morning were placed to denote our grief, and in that grief we had the sympathy of all the civilized world. 

For about the same number of weeks that Garfield lingered and suffered, our court of justice was disgraced, its authority defied and our nation turned into ridicule by the trial of the heartless assassin who seemed to fear neither Got, man nor the Devil. But to-day, after a year of anxiety we feel relieved believing Guiteau justly merited the reward he received upon the gallows. 

Although this dark episode has been added to our national history in the past year still we feel that we have kept our former name "that of a progressive nation."

Although we lost one of the greatest men of modern times, still we can feel that our loss was his gain. Nor was it altogether a loss? No! for by that loss we have been benefitted. Our time, attention and thoughts were taken up in personal business and interest, for we felt assured that our government was in the hands of a wise and just ruler, and on that assurance we rested. We felt there was a safe hand at the helm, and doubtless in our President had been spared to us we would have leaned more heavily upon him: but when the news came that he was stricken down every patriotic mind was turned to the strength, durability and future of our government and every pious heart was turned to God in prayer. Thus were the American people led to pray, as they had never prayed before, to lean upon a divine and to trust in a Ruler who shall stand when men fail. The life and career of Garfield, which is known to every school boy, rising from one of the lower paths of life to highest position in the nation furnishes a noble example for all the young men in America to imitate, and will give hope, energy and vitality to many weary depressed and discouraged hearts. The patient and uncomplaining manner in which he bore his sufferings and the strong Christian faith and character which he exhibited, leaves and example to imitated by all.

America has lost as great man, but he has left a pattern which will enable her to rear scores in his place. 

The trial and temptations of life do us no harm unless we yield to them, but on the other hand "each victory helps us some other to win," so it is with our government. It was tried to its foundation, and by that trial it has gained strength and self reliance and today it stands like gold tried in the fire. Thus can we say that the death of President Garfield has been a benefit to our country; but like the boy who was punished in school we do not wish for the repetition of such circumstances for the sake of the benefits derived therefrom. 

The spirit of progress is doing its work. Here is a new railroad being built, there is a fresh telegraph line erected and yonder is a grand edifice reared toward the sky. The unbroken prairie of the west is being turn and brought under cultivation; and even in the older sections we find that improvement is constantly going on. One is taking out stone, another is grading the highway and at least four farmers on the main road have put in underground ditches the present season. All of these are marks of progress. If you go through our various branches of industry, you will find the same marked degree of progress. say nothing of the improvements in art and the discoveries of science. 

Our weather, too, is progressive. We have a fresh supply every day. It reminds me of Mark Twain's watch, one part of the day it went too fast, the other part too slow, but at the end of twenty four houres it came in just on time. So it is with our weather. One part of the year was too dry, the other part too wet, but is has showed a square and fair average, so you must not complain. 

Although we are friends with all foreign powers and have malice toward none, though peace and prosperity abound throughout the land, still we are engaged in civil warfare, and in this too, there has been progress. Engaged in this warfare we have a large army, which works under three different heads, viz. Education, Temperance and Religion, and in one of those branches I trust everyone before me is a true and patriotic soldier. Religion prepares for life, death and the future; strike the liquor traffic of our land and you will make thousands of happy homes in which to live; educate the masses and both temperance and religion shall prosper. Education is as Mr. Randall says "The means and not the end." All of the great men and public benefactors in our land, are those who have had the benefits of good education, while those are seen reeling in the street or those who will rob your house at the midnight hour, and sometime take human life are those who have either limited education or none at all. You say there are exceptions to these statements? That is true for someone who whispers Guiteau was an educated man, "so he was graduated last Friday and we all feel sorry because he didn't graduate before. I give the rules allowing there are exceptions. Educate the young men of America and they will be too proud to be seen in the liquor saloons and lower dens of vice, for they will have an ambition for something higher, nobler and purer. Get them interested in literary and moral work; excite their attention for higher and more elevating purposes, which will crowd out their desires for mere useless and unsatisfactory pleasures, in which the young are too apt to indulge. 

See the young man who seemed uninterested a short time ago -- now pushing on, for today he is the honored and beloved president of a successful literary society, by the name of the Local Circle. The Local Circle forms a small auxiliary of the army of which we spoke, and in this auxiliary marks of progress are apparent, for it is accomplishing the works for which it was organized, viz, that of high civilization. The object being to interest and benefit both the young and the old, and to furnish a class of entertainments which shall bear a higher standard than is found in the minstrel show, around the billiard table or in the ball room. This object has been accomplished in the winter that has passed. The members of the Local Circle have met and enjoyed the blessings of one another's homes and firesides, - have come to know one another and to respect one another with a deeper and more lasting regard. No neighborhood quarrel strains the history of the Local Circle and enmity one to another galls the heart of none. 

Thus, in light of the latter half of the nineteenth century I assert that our nation is in a prosperous and progressive condition, but will leave those who are to follow to discuss our future destiny. 

The sun in his course does not visit a land more free, more happy or more lovely than this our own country and no country has been brought forth under so difficult circumstances with so unequaled success. 

Its record stands unsurpassed in the history of nations. It presents a more glorious edifice than was ever produced by Grecian or Roman art, and the glories of that edifice never shone brighter than they do today. 

Long may that star-spangled banner wave O'er the home of the free and the land of the brave. 

_____

Patty's notes on this entry

I assume this paper was presented by Charles Call to the Local Circle in July 1882. I haven't found any newspaper articles that talk about the early July meeting, but I may yet find something. 

Update: May 21, 2020 - I found a notice in the June 28, 1882 Daily News in Batavia about a picnic to be held at Robert Call's on July 4 under the auspices of the Eastern Literary Society 



Charles Call was looking back a year to the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881 in the opening section of his essay. 

James A. Garfield (1831-1881) was the 20th President of the United States. He only served in office for six and a half months, from his inauguration on March 4 until his death on September 19, 1881. 

On July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau shot Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, DC. At the time, the President wasn't guarded the way Presidents are today. Their movements were often printed in the newspaper. So it was common knowledge that Garfield would be leaving Washington for New Jersey on the morning of July 2. 

Guiteau was a frustrated office seeker. At the time, the President appointed many more government employees than they do today. Many positions were distributed to the winner's supporters as a reward for their help in getting someone elected. Guiteau sought to be appointed to a consulship, first in Vienna, and then in Paris. While he had written a speech and published it endorsing Garfield, Guiteau wasn't well known, wasn't very influential, and wasn't qualified for the offices he sought. 

So when he wasn't appointed, he decided it has to do with the wing of the Republican Party he belonged to (the Stalwarts). And that the remedy for not being appointed, was to remove Garfield from office so his Vice President Chester Arthur (also a member of the Stalwart wing of the Republican Party) would assume the office, and presumably appoint more Stalwarts to office. 

President James A. Garfield with Secretary of State James G. Blaine after being shot by Guiteau, as depicted in a period engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper.

On the morning of July 2, Guiteau hid in the ladies waiting room at the station, while waiting for Garfield and his Cabinet to arrive. Guiteau walked up to Garfield while he was speaking to Secretary of State James Blaine and shot Garfield in the chest and arm.  

Garfield injuries were not immediately fatal. At first Garfield seemed to be recovering, despite his doctors probing his wounds with their fingers and unsterilized instruments. Without the benefit of X-Rays (that wouldn't be invented for another 15 years) or other ways of determining exactly where the bullet lodged in his chest was, it could not be removed. As the summer progressed, Garfield weakened. In early September, he was able to travel on a special train to New Jersey where it was cooler than Washington D.C. He finally died on September 19. 

Garfield's assassination, initial recovery, decline and finally death were front page news for the entire summer of 1881. Lincoln's assassination in 1865 had been the only prior presidential assassination, and it had been considered a fluke of the war. So Garfield's assassination and death shook the confidence of the nation, his life story of rising from poverty to the presidency provided a model for others to follow in their life. 

As for Guiteau, he was arrested and tried for Garfield's assassination. His behavior in the courtroom - including insulting his lawyers, singing "John Brown's Body" and saying the assassination was an Act of God and was merely the instrument - was unconventional enough that an insanity defense was considered. At one point, Guiteau argued he hadn't killed Garfield - that it was the President's doctor's malpractice that killed him, stating " I deny the killing, if your honor please We admit the shooting." The trial was a media circus, reported in newspapers across the country. On January 25, 1882, Guiteau was found guilty of murder. 

Guiteau was sentenced to death by hanging with the sentence to be carried out on June 30, 1882 in Washington, D.C. He danced his way up to the gallows, shook hands with the executioner, and recited a poem he had written, "I Am Going to the Lordy." 

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