A letter written to W. H. B. Currier, of Amesbury, Mass.
DANVERS, MASS., 9th Mo., 24, 1881.
I regret that it is not in my power to join the citizens of Amesbury and
Salisbury in the memorial services on the occasion of the death of our
lamented President. But in heart and sympathy I am with you. I share
the great sorrow which overshadows the land; I fully appreciate the
irretrievable loss. But it seems to me that the occasion is one for
thankfulness as well as grief.
Through all the stages of the solemn tragedy which has just closed with
the death of our noblest and best, I have felt that the Divine Providence
was overruling the mighty affliction,--that the patient sufferer at
Washington was drawing with cords of sympathy all sections and parties
nearer to each other. And now, when South and North, Democrat and
Republican, Radical and Conservative, lift their voices in one unbroken
accord of lamentation; when I see how, in spite of the greed of gain, the
lust of office, the strifes and narrowness of party politics, the great
heart of the nation proves sound and loyal, I feel a new hope for the
republic, I have a firmer faith in its stability. It is said that no man
liveth and no man dieth to himself; and the pure and noble life of
Garfield, and his slow, long martyrdom, so bravely borne in view of all,
are, I believe, bearing for us as a people "the peaceable fruits of
righteousness." We are stronger, wiser, better, for them.
With him it is well. His mission fulfilled, he goes to his grave by the
Lakeside honored and lamented as man never was before. The whole world
mourns him. There is no speech nor language where the voice of his
praise is not heard. About his grave gather, with heads uncovered, the
vast brotherhood of man.
And with us it is well, also. We are nearer a united people than ever
before. We are at peace with all; our future is full of promise; our
industrial and financial condition is hopeful. God grant that, while our
material interests prosper, the moral and spiritual influence of the
occasion may be permanently felt; that the solemn sacrament of Sorrow,
whereof we have been made partakers, may be blest to the promotion of the
righteousness which exalteth a nation.