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 UNITED STATES OF AIV3ERSCA. 
 
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 TgeDeatsfiofpr^egidentslJarfield. 
 
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The pi'oblem of praijeit 
 
 AND 
 
 %le Dentfi of IDresltlent ISnifietd. 
 
 A DISCOURSE 
 
 REV. BYRON SUNDERLAND, D. D. 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 The First Presbyterian Church at Washington, D. C. 
 Sabbath Morning, Oct 9th, 1881. 
 
 WASHINGTON D C 
 EDWARD HENKLE PRINTER 
 
 1881 
 
«> / o 
 
 Washington, Oct 14, 1881. 
 Rev'd. and Dear Dr. : 
 
 We earnestly unite in asking of you the use of the manuscript 
 of your able sermon of Sunday last on the " Death of President 
 James A. Garfield " and the connexion of prayer .with that event, 
 for publication. 
 
 While the country is feeling the chastening influence of our re- 
 cent great National affliction, the peo]jle most earnestly turn to 
 the pulpit for lej-sons of instru6lion. The belief that the discourse 
 you have delivered may be helpful in directing the public mind 
 in the proper channel of refle6lion prompts this request. 
 Very respeft fully and truly, 
 
 lOHN BAILEY, 
 1\ W. FERRY, 
 C. STORRS, 
 S. M. WILLIAMSON, 
 
 E. B. TAYLOR, 
 
 G. F. JOHNSTON, 
 TOHN B. WIGHT, 
 
 CHARLES Dubois, 
 
 MOSES S. GIBSON, 
 
 F. B. DALRYMPLE, 
 S. W. CURRIDEN, 
 E. D. TRACEY, 
 TAMES PATTERSON. 
 
 Washington, Oct. lUJi, 1881. 
 To Messrs Bailey, Ferry and others . 
 
 Gentlemen : In rejily to your request of my sermon on the 
 " Death of President Garfield," I submit the manuscript for your 
 use. 
 
 I know not how others may feel, but for myself I have never 
 been so imjoressed with the sovereignty of God and the impo- 
 tence of man. 
 
 I trust that no one will misunderstand my feeling in giving, as 
 I have done, an account of my interview with the President at 
 the De])ot on the morning he was shot. Many requi;sts re- 
 ceived from different i)arts of the country have induced me to 
 tell the simi)le story for truths' sake and not for mere self-exhi- 
 bition. — I remain, gentlemen. 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 B. SUNDERLAND. 
 
SERMON 
 
 T. John, 5: 14-lf). — Aiul this is the conMeuee tliat we liJivc in 
 Him, tli;it, if we ask anythius". according to His will, hf. hoarclli 
 ns. And if we kiiovy tliat he liear us, whatsoever we ask we know 
 that we liave the petitions tliat we desired of Him. 
 
 fllE ettieacy of prayer has been made a proniinent 
 subject of th()Uij;ht dui'iiig tlie past Smnincr. The 
 as&al^lt upon President Garfield opened up a new 
 and strong chapter in the experience of the church, the 
 nation and the civilized and Christian world. 
 
 80 far as I know, I am the only minister wlio saw and 
 spoki! with him after he was shot. Several versions of 
 it have been published, but tliey were made up of bits 
 of rumor, according to the fancy of their authors. I have 
 nothing to do with them. On the day of the funeral of 
 the President I was in Catskill, K Y. At a Union Mem- 
 orial Service held in the Presbyterian Church of that 
 pLace, I was requested to address the audience, and there 
 for the first time made a written statement of the oc- 
 curence, which statement, as preliminary to our present 
 topic I now give to. you. 
 
 I was not sent for by any one to visit the President on 
 tlie njorniiig of the deed, but being in the vicinity of the 
 Depot and hearing tlie rumor I ran to the place under a 
 common impulse with the rest. Being knowni to the 
 guards already stationed to keep back the crowd I was 
 permitted tc/ ascend to the room where he was, and 
 where all was trejiidation and confusion, it being not 
 yet an hour since tlie assault. 
 
 I had known him more or less intimately, as wc know 
 all our puldic men residing at the Capitol, though I was 
 not personally actpiaiiited with the other members of his 
 family. 
 
 When I first saw him on that day he had recovered 
 consciousness and was resting— a princely form of man- 
 hood — on a half-lx'd mattress on the bare floor in the 
 
(•enter of a lar2;c nnfuniished chuinber. He was lying 
 oji liis left side looking toward tiie Avindows, very pale, 
 but apparently the calmest person in the room. 
 
 Most of his clothing had been removed and a yiMing 
 man — his eldest son, I suppose — sat at his head fanning 
 him, well nigh as resolute as the father himself. 
 
 A thick blanket was thrown over him and some per- 
 sons were rubbing and bathing his feet and limbs, as he 
 vspoke of a burning, pricking sensation in his lower ex- 
 tremities and said he felt as if the weight of tons were 
 pressing upon them. 
 
 In the haste and excitement one was trying to tell to 
 another wiiat had transpired, and what had already been 
 done for his relief. Inquiries arose among the medical 
 men as they came in, all of whom had been summoned 
 to the spot by one means or another, in response to 
 which the pistol was produced and the wound was 
 shown. The weapon was formidable — a five barrelled 
 l)ull-dog of heavy calibre, and. the rent in the President's 
 side was fearful to see — a Idoody mouth indeed, which 
 the assassin's bullet had made. It is no wonder when we 
 remember that as he fired the second shot the murderer 
 was not more than five feet or so from his victim. 
 
 It has been recently stated that both shots took ef- 
 fect; and tliis, I should judge, is the impression of the 
 murderer himself; but as I understand it, the first shot* 
 was fired at a somewhat greater distance, simply cutting 
 the sleeve of the light over-coat on the left arm near 
 the shoulder, and was afterwards found in the kit of a 
 glazier who happened at the moment to be standing in 
 the Depot in the direction of the ball. 
 
 treeing myself the only clergyman present, and recol- 
 lecting the fact that General Garfield was known to be 
 openly identified with a branch of the church of Chiist, 
 and had been so for many years, at a moment when it 
 seemed fitting to do so, I apin-oached him, knelt down 
 upon the fioor before him, and taking his liand in mine 
 incpiired, " Do you know me, Mr. rresident? " lie im- 
 mediately answered, looking me closely and steadily in 
 the face, "OIj, yes. Dr. Sunderland ! " I then said, " You 
 arc the servant of God — you have long been sucb — you 
 are now in Ilis hands; and I wish to tell you that the 
 
 *lt is now cLiiniert to have been the first shot which took effect, 
 The second beins wildly aimed. 
 
]>r;iycrs of all good [)oo[)l(- will^ he ott'ei-cd up to (4()(1 
 tlial your life may be s})ai'e(l." To which he answered, 
 in the same calm tone, " I kncnv it, !>octor; I lit'licve in 
 God and am willing to trust myself in Ilis luuuls." 
 
 It was all that could he said at the time, for almost 
 immediately some one came to him and asked, " Shall 
 we send a message to Mrs. Gartield ? " " By all means," 
 said he, " send to her at once ! " " But will she be able 
 to bear it — you know shs has been very ill and is not 
 yet strong; may it not cause her a dangerous relapse ?" 
 "■ Send at once," he c[uickly answered — " I know her. She 
 imll bear it." " What then shall we say ?" asked his 
 friend. '* Tell her," said the President,"^ '' that I have 
 been seriously hurt — how seriously, we do not know, as 
 yet. Request, her to come to me at once, and give her 
 ray love." 
 
 At this, the lips of the strong men who heard it quiv- 
 ered, and tears stood in eyes unused to weep. 
 
 Shortly after this, he said, " AVhile I am strong enough 
 to go, take me back to the House." Preparations were 
 then made as speedily as possible. And as they bore 
 him down to the ambulance I followed at his head; and 
 as he was being driven away in the midst of a dense 
 and crushing crowd, I said, " I may come to see you to- 
 morrow ! " " That is right," said he. "Come and see 
 me." 
 
 I went that night to inquire about him, and several 
 times afterward, but of course never saw him again. 
 
 Suffer me now to speak upon the general event, and 
 upon the attitude ot praying people all over Christen- 
 dom who have been so earnestly entreating God to spare 
 his life and restore him again to the functions of his 
 great office. 
 
 I suppose there can be no doubt that a large class of 
 unbelievers in prayer and even in the existence of God 
 Himself have been looking on to see the issue of this trial; 
 and they have witnessed it in such a spirit of mind that 
 if the President had recovered they would still have re- 
 mained as incredulous as ever. They would have said, 
 this is no proof of a supernatural interposition at all; it 
 is only the result of a naturally strong constitution, tem- 
 perate habits; the fact that no vital part was injured; 
 the great assiduity and skill of modern surgery; the will 
 power of the patient; the constant tenderness and de- 
 
6 
 
 votednoss of friends and family iibont hira, and the 
 knowledo'e that he had the deepest sympathy of the 
 whole Nation and of the civilized world. So that if 
 God had performed an out and out miracle in his recov- 
 ery, it would, in the premises of the case, have furnished 
 no evidence of a supernatural agency to tliose who are 
 already predisposed to scepticism. 
 
 So far as I can understand it, the most approved ora- 
 cles of the current Infidelity state the matter about in 
 the following terms: 
 
 Those that think that prayers are answered should 
 pray. 
 
 Everyone who prays for the President shows at least 
 his sympatliy and good will. 
 
 They have no objection to anybody's praying. 
 
 For those who honestl}' believe in prayer and honestly 
 implore their Deity to watch over, protect and save the 
 life of the President they have only the kindest feeling. 
 
 Prayer may affect the person who pra^'s. It may put 
 him in such a frame of mind that he can better liear dis- 
 appointment than if he had not prayed. 
 
 But they cannot believe that there is any being who 
 hears and answers prayer; and they have not the slight- 
 est idea of the existence of the Supernatural. 
 
 In view of the reality of all kinds of existing evil it 
 does not seem possible to them that anything can be ac- 
 complished by prayer. 
 
 Many think that the pulpit first endeavors to find out 
 the facts and then to make a theory to fit them; and 
 that whoever believes in a special Providence must, of 
 necessity, be illogical and al)surd, because it is impos- 
 sible to make any theological theory that some facts 
 will not contradict. 
 
 This, then, is about the attitude of the present most 
 a[)proved and popular oracles of Infidelity. They think 
 prayer is utterly useless because there is no one to hear 
 and answer it, and yet they think that those who be- 
 lieve in pra3'er and believe there is a God who hears and 
 answers it are b,)und to [)i"iiy; and they have the kind- 
 est feeling Tor them aitliough they consider them de- 
 iudt'd, and thai all their efforts in sn[)|)Iicatioii are 
 vain and fi'iiitle-s. So much for the orac.e ^ of Infidelity. 
 
 Put wlial now do the profe-sed friends and teachers 
 of" ('lii'ist ianil v sa\'? 
 
A prominent l\erit2:i()ns |»a])C'r ol this week, ret'eri'iiiii; to 
 the subject, remarks: '• If we are to jml<ro of the real 
 needs of the community on the pravcr ([iic-t ion I>v llic 
 errors and absurdities of those who talk about it, there 
 is a good deal more need of instruction among persons 
 who are in the church than among those who ai'e out- 
 side of it. Indeed there has been very little disposition 
 on the part of the world's pc.)[)le to cavil over the fact 
 that a Xation's prayers have not l)een answered [)]"ecisely 
 as the Nation hoped. The real worry and the real per- 
 plexity have been among Christians wdio were afraid 
 that the Lord's cause would somehow lose ground be- 
 cause of the Lord's doings." 
 
 And after making these connnents it proceeds to in- 
 sert a long article entitled, " Taking God at his word in 
 prayer," which seems to be' a supplement to another ar- 
 ticle printed last week in the same paper, styled, " Prayer 
 in faith, not faith in prayer." In these articles it proceeds 
 to exemplify and augment this same worry and perplex- 
 ity among Christians of wdiich it had complained, and 
 instead of frankly confessing that all the prayer offered 
 for the restoration of the President has proved fruitless 
 in that regard, there seems to be a labored effort by hair- 
 splitting distinctions to hedge against the effect of detri- 
 mental conclusions. Now" I assent to many of the state- 
 ments in those articles, but I dislike the attempt to 
 explain aw^ay or conceal the fact that what so many 
 prayed for was not granted. And moreover, there are 
 some statements in those articles which, as they appear 
 to me to be wholly unqualified, I cannot agree to. 
 
 The fact is patent that there has been a failure. The 
 church is deprived of the power to say that she did pre- 
 vail in prayer to God for the recovery of the President; 
 and whatever may be the explanation of the defeat still 
 it is no less a defeat; and so fai" as human \iew can per- 
 ceive, this defeat will, in many minds, strengthen the 
 position of Infidelity, because it can be said, and logically 
 said, that in this pre-eminent case, so far as any praying- 
 soul has made the point of recovery an unqualified issue, 
 this prayer has not been answered; and so far as I can 
 see, there is nothing left but honestly to confess tlie fail- 
 ure. Suppose it is a Bull Run defeat. Perhaps the 
 church needed it. There have been many such defeats 
 in her history before, and yet the church survives. Dc- 
 
feat at certain points and in certain ways is a part of 
 that humbling discipline through which the church muBt 
 pass. It is a bitter cup. Christ said, "ye shall indeed 
 drink of my cup and partake of my baptism, but to sit 
 U[)On my right hand and upon my left, is not mine to 
 give. 
 
 I know not how others have been specially afiected 
 during the progress of the case, but for myself I remem- 
 ber that in the'first weeks of the calamity my most prom- 
 inent desire in prayer was that it might l)e thoroughly 
 sanctified to the whole Nation. But afterwards, when 
 the President had held out so patiently and heroically, 
 and when so much had been said on one side and the 
 other about the efficacy of prayer in such a case as this, 
 and when the very circumstances conspired to make it a 
 mighty gauge to test the power of prayer, I became 
 more and more inclined in prayer to wish that God 
 would perform a miracle in his recoveiy — a miracle of 
 the same kind as those which Christ performed when he 
 raised the dead, gave sight to the blind and healed the 
 smitten ear of Makhus with a touch. I had no doubt that 
 He could do it, and I have no doubt now that He could 
 have done it if He would. I wanted to see that done. I 
 wanted to see God's hand towering over all the work 
 of the physicians and all the skill of modern science 
 and even "the tenderest offices of human affection. I 
 wanted to oe able to point with confidence to the recov- 
 ered President, virtually restored in a day by the direct 
 interpositic/U of Almighty grace in answer to human 
 prayer, and to be able to say to every caviller in the land, 
 " Behold — see the efficacy of prayer — there is God's hand 
 outstretched at the cry of His people, and there is the 
 result — deny it if you can ! " That I confess for a num- 
 l)er of days was my feeling; and upon occasion I so pri- 
 vately and jiublicly expressed it. 
 
 How much of human egotism and presumptuous dicta- 
 tion and disposition to hector the Infidel and idly glory 
 in his defeat there was in all this, God knows l)etter than 
 I do. 
 
 Did I forget anything in putting forth such a desire? 
 
 Was it not at Ai that Israel suffered a fearfvd check — 
 was there an Aclian in the camp? 
 
 Was it a sign sought by a wicked generation when no 
 sii:;n should be given it? 
 
Was it a failure in askiiii;- hocauso wo askod amiss':' 
 
 Was it the pleading of the Patriarch for Sodom, fixing 
 his own terms — when those terms oould not he sn[)plied? 
 
 Was it just the reverse of the case of the woman with 
 the issue of blood wlio dismissed all her other physicians 
 before she applied to Christ alone and was then instantly 
 healed by one touch of the hem of his garment? 
 
 !Sup[)o.-e this had been thought of in the outset of tiie 
 President's case, whi) is there in the land that would 
 have hud faith and courage enough to propose it? And 
 w^hat tlie result might have been if this had actually 
 been done and the" whole church like the Xinuvites of 
 old had bowed her face night and day betore God, can- 
 not now be told. Christ wont so far as to tell His dis- 
 ciples that if they w^oiild only believe they sh')uld do 
 greater works than those which He had do^.e; and when 
 upon one occasion they had been baffled by the strength 
 and cunning of an evil spirit and wanted to know of 
 the Master wdiy they could not cast him out, lie taught 
 them that such as that went out only by prayer and fast- 
 ing. Does this mean, as applied to us, that the moral 
 power of the church with God was by far too low and 
 weak to compass the end desired? 
 
 But the fact is the physicians kept on and the prayers 
 kept on. And was not this in accordance with the an- 
 alogy of faith? We know that in all ordinary cases God 
 works by means rather than b-yond them; and in many 
 of his miracles Christ coupled some human act wdth his 
 healing powder; and sometimes lie measured the result 
 by human trust; "according to your faith be it unto 
 you." 
 
 Or it may be suggested that other and to us more 
 occult and ultimate reasons, aside from any of these 
 explanations, must h;ive prevailed with God in denying 
 the prayer for the recovery of the President. He may 
 have foreseen greater evils to result from the success of 
 the church on this point than from her defeat. AVhen 
 we remevnber that He did not prevent the sliot of the 
 murderer from taking effect, we must also conclude that 
 the same . -asons for not preventing it may have existed 
 in the Divine mind for not granting the importumite 
 and reiterated request for the President's^ recovery. 
 Perhaps God saw such bearings and ramifications of the 
 «vent upon other and wider future interests for this 
 
10 
 
 country and the world that He would not interfere to 
 arrest the death of the President^ fore^eeino; the greater 
 ultimate good that would result if He did not. All 
 those prayers may have been acceptable to Him as an 
 expression of human sympathy for the sufferer and of 
 depemlence upon Divine aid for the Nation; but as He 
 may have seen essential grounds upon which to rule 
 against the petition of the people, He allowed the 
 natural effect of the assassin's deed to proceed to its 
 termination. So, oftentimes, a wise father denies the 
 requests of his children, not because those requests are 
 displeasing in themselves, but because other and impera- 
 tive reasons on the ground of a wider Benificence must 
 be regarded. 
 
 Some have thought that in our times at least God 
 never intei'feres with what are called the established 
 laws of nature, and that knowing as we now do the 
 fatal character of the wound, this is sufficient explana- 
 tion of the fact that the President did not recover, 
 although so many were praying that he might. 
 
 It is frequently said that tlie day of mii-acles is past, 
 that we must no longer look for such an exercise of Di- 
 vine power; and out of this conviction very largly springs 
 the modern denial of the Supernatural, Yet" the Bible 
 tells us that " the prayer of faith shall save the sick and 
 the Lord shall raise him up" — that " the fervent, ef- 
 fectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much," And 
 then to make it more emphatic it proceeds to say that 
 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we. are, and 
 he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and there 
 was no rain for three years and a half. "And he prayed 
 again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought 
 forth her fruit." And is He not the same (lod now that 
 He was then? Has His power been diminished? Has 
 His will ceased to take effect? And when the afflicted 
 came to Chiist or to rhe disciples in the name of Christ 
 for healing was there ever anything said about the 
 moral worth of the applicants as a condition of the mir- 
 acle? I do not tind it so. Their vecemt/j was a [irevail- 
 ing }»lea. And why with the same God and the same 
 Christ above us should it not be so to-day? 
 
 What tlien remains? The test has boen made and the 
 President is dead ! But what sort of a test has it been ? 
 Certainlv we cannot sav that God niadc the test. So 
 
11 
 
 far as it has been put, it is a tost wliirli mortal men 
 tlicinselves haA'e made — the Intidel on one side, the 
 professed Reli«jionist on the other. Is God ohli<i|;ed to 
 conform Ilis course to the dictation of His creatures 
 every time they judge it is requisite for Ilim to (h) so? 
 AVonhl any wise and good eartldy father submit to such 
 dictation from the contending members of Ids house- 
 hohl ? 
 
 In this human strife the pride of tlie C/hristian goes 
 to the walL Is it a triumph on the Infidel side ? Can 
 they turn upon us and say, the church in her present 
 state is either too ignorant or too arrogant in her prayers, 
 or too unworthy to prefer them, and in every way dis- 
 qualified to put human faith to such a test? Or can 
 they taunt us as Elijah did the prophets of Jezebel: 
 "Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or 
 pursuing, or in a journey, or perhaps asleep and needs 
 awaking," 
 
 At any rate the miracle of tlie recovery has fallen to 
 the ground; the desire and prayer and will of man are 
 thwarted. 
 
 But what if God should come forth and say: " I will 
 laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh." 
 
 What is my will or the will of any mortal man or the 
 will of this whole Nation compared with the will of God? 
 Before we came into it, He ruled the world; and after 
 we are gone out of it, He will rule the world; and the 
 world itself with all it contains is a mere speck of the 
 creation; and all our ages but as a second on the dial- 
 plate of Eternity. Suppose the Infidel jeers and the 
 Christian prays; and sometimes it goes up and some- 
 times it goes down like the rod of Moses in the battle 
 of Amalek and Israel — yet the purpose of God shall 
 stand and He will do all His pleasure. All the nations 
 are before Ilim as but a drop in the bucket; and because 
 we are so small, so ignorant, so helpless and so depend- 
 ent we have been gifted with an instinct that will never 
 leave us; and that is the instinct of prayer. Answered 
 or unanswered, potent or impotent, it is the voice of 
 human nature in distress; and never will that voice die 
 out while troubles rise and eyes are wet with weeping 
 and hearts are wrung with anguish! 
 
 Yet there is a far more important matter for reflec- 
 tion, because we have to consider what is now, and what 
 
12 
 
 is to ]>c the pornianont effect of the National calamity 
 and of the many prayers that are offered up to God. 
 
 There is a sentence in the old Book like this: " AVheii 
 the judo-ments of the Lord are in tlie earth the inhabi- 
 tants of the world will learn Tight eousness." " These 
 judgments " we suppose to be the calamities and troubles 
 which afflict men and nations. That our people have 
 been plunged into a Summer of unusual sadness and sor- 
 row in many ways, need not be told. The colossal grief 
 of our land'is yet signalled which ever way we turn by 
 the black tokens that greet our gaze. It was the work 
 of an instant by a murderer's hand. lie has given his 
 own explanation of his motive for the deed. It was re- 
 ported that upon his arrest he exclaimed : '' I have fin- 
 ished Garfield — Arthur is President — I am a stalwart of 
 the stalwarts! " And to-day it is amazing to find that 
 these words in the sense in which they were intended by 
 a worthless miscreant cowering for three months in a 
 felon's cell, with apparently not one single friend on 
 earth, and loaded with the maledictions of the civilized 
 world — these words so uttered and so intended upon 
 the very act, stand good to-day against the combined ef- 
 forts of modern science, and all the courage, sympathy, 
 hope, faith and prayer of united Cliristendom to prove 
 them false. In these words lurked a secret known only 
 to God. A secret veiled for eighty days from the eyes 
 of mortals and only at last discovered when after tlie 
 long struggle death had done its work. Then the Xa- 
 tion learned, foi- the first time, that from the beginning 
 it was a fatal wonnd. He says ho was inspired of God 
 to remove the President as a political necessity, to pre- 
 serve the Republican, party and thereby conserve the 
 lasting peace and prosperity of the whole country ! 
 
 ^^'ow, while this pretence upon the lips of a man whoso 
 hand is red wnth murder sounds to us like a hoiril)le 
 mockery, wdiat are the facts in the case ? AVe all know 
 that bitter feuds and hatreds did exist. Party politics 
 and sectional animosity were fierce and strong. The 
 wheels of Government dragged heavily, and in some 
 regards w^ere i nder Itrakes that threatened to stop them 
 altogether. Meanw^hile every species of wickedness a[i- 
 peai-ed in a fni Hownng tide among a people daily grow- 
 ing more arrog.nit. irreverent and frivolous; the altars 
 of religion were la./ely abandoned; the sacred day was 
 
18 
 
 desecrated, and a sclf-snfHeioiicj, conipetitivo and un- 
 scrupulous, flaunted abroad its banners on every hand, 
 while the very churcli of God was covei'ed witlu the 
 mildew of the world ! 
 
 That was the condition wlien this deed of the assr^ssin. 
 hke a bolt from the clear sky, smote down the Otlicial 
 head of the Xation ! And what has followed upon this 
 event? The Xation was arrested; political bickcriiii:; 
 for the time was hushed. Confronted with a spectre 
 hideous as hell — first came astonishment and disiua}'; 
 then all the better feeling-s and sympathies of our nature 
 beo-an to crowd into active and aftecting exercise. The 
 religious sentiment, so long dormant, was powerfully 
 evoked. A recognition of God and of our dependence 
 upon Him has been openly and officiall}'' professed, both 
 by rulers and people, with a freedom and emphasis Avhich 
 recalls once more the solemn passage of the War of 
 Independence. And so marvellous are the comljinations 
 of history, that we are standing to-day on the eve of 
 the Centennial celebration of one of the crowning and 
 closing events of that glorious struggle of our fore- 
 fathers, and receiving to our shores the honored repre- 
 sentatives of distant peoples to rekindle again the tires 
 of that great sympathy ! 
 
 But ho\Y long shall all this last ? There is a fearful 
 passage in one of the prophecies to thi-; effect: " For I 
 will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the 
 land," saith the Lord, "■ for from the least of them even 
 unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covet- 
 ousness." ''They have healed also the hurt of the 
 daughter of my people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' 
 when there is no peace !" 
 
 Now is this to be the case ^^'ith us in our present pro- 
 fessed reformation ? Is this to be the result of all the 
 petitions which we have desired of God ? Shall the 
 first S]iring grass not grow upon the grave of the mar- 
 tyred sleeper at Cleveland beforoweshr.il have leturned 
 to ou!' old ways and our old wickedness as a people? 
 Xay, have we not reascm to fear that party feuds may 
 rag'e more implacable than ever; that huge dishonesties 
 may cast the laud with shad;>ws, and that the present 
 restraint may prove to be but a temporary truce, soon to 
 be broken by tlie contending elements of good and evil ? 
 S.) certaiidv will it turn out if the people of this country 
 
14 
 
 arc loft alone to the promptings of a selfish nature, and if 
 God by His vSpirit does not interpose to work a deeper 
 and more lasting grace in the whole heart of the Nation. 
 
 Is it then to be supposed that the assassin had all this 
 in his vision when he stole behind the Chosen of the 
 people and bored out of the b(^dy its precious life ? 
 From his latest pul)lislied utterance, we learn that he 
 himself aspires to sit in the chair of Garfield that he 
 may show the world the blessing of a pui-e administra- 
 tion, and make out of this Nation "a happy, prosperous 
 and God-fearing people !" The pretension is amazing 
 from such lips — tlie lips of a man, now perhaps as execa- 
 ble and as execrated both by Infidel and Christian as any 
 character that has figured in modern history. Yet, Ave 
 suppose him to belong to the human species, and to have 
 a soul which like our own Avill one dav appear before 
 God. 
 
 What should then be our rightful feeling toward him ? 
 Surely not one of lawless vengeance, but one of calm, 
 judicial judgment and Christian faithfulness. It is 
 right in the midst of our deep indignation at his hor- 
 rible oflence, aggravated as it is by every degree of re- 
 ligious hypocrisy, to desire and pray that he may be led 
 to repentance, and, in imitation of our Divine Master, 
 to commend him to that mercy of God which, from its 
 very construction, it is impossible for human Government 
 to extend. 
 
 It seems that a tender-hearted and praying woman 
 has made an appeal to the church and the clergy in be- 
 lialf of the assassin, carrying her complaint, strangely 
 enough, to a newspaper, which one should suppDse Avould 
 be the last on earth that any sensible person would se- 
 lect for such a purpose. However, the subject itself is 
 legitimate, and so far as we are involved in the respon- 
 sibility, we have already indicated our reply. 
 
 But doubtless hitherto we have been too engrossed 
 with the President's struggle for life — which numy think 
 Avas prolonged inansAverto prayer — to give nmcli earnest 
 heed to the spiritual condition of the guilty author of 
 all this misery and anguish. In the comparativelv brief 
 history of this Nation, there have been most grievous 
 and shocking events over Avhich philanthropy and relig- 
 ion lamented througliout the civilized AV(-»rld, But as to 
 the pity and patlios of this recent experience, taking it 
 
15 
 
 all ill ;ilK it !-ccins to me spcikiiii;; with tlu' utmost re\or- 
 onec that since the death ol' Christ there has heeii no 
 parallel in human annals. Woi-ds ! words! futile words! 
 wlioUy incompetent to ex[)i-ess the [thases of the traii;edy, 
 are the only s3-inl)ols hy which to tell its melting mys-' 
 tery— -the family tenderness and heroism — the dying 
 valor of the intrepid sufferer — the yearning devotion of 
 fi'iendship — the unflagging vigil of surgery — the j)rompt 
 generosity of responding affinence — the sharp anxiety of 
 awaiting millions — the shame and grief of the dishonor — 
 the hea\y hours of suspense and sadness — tlie final jiart- 
 ing of the silver chord — the last piteous cry of rending 
 nature — aland hung in mourning — a people sitting in 
 sackcloth — the funeral train and spectacle and hurial, 
 and distant nations condoling with a bereaved Ke[)ubiic, 
 have made this a period monumental in the calendar of 
 time. It is the very acme of historical romance — a 
 paragraph just written by the Kecording Angel in the 
 volume of the ages that no future generation can 
 ever read without a threne of emotion " which makes 
 the whole world kin," and breaks the very heart of 
 human nature ! 
 
 And yet for him who has suffered and died nothing 
 more can he desired. 
 
 It was the prediction of an Infidel, that if the Presi- 
 dent should die hundreds of ministers would be saying, 
 " After all, it may be the President has lost nothing; it 
 may be that our loss is his eternal gain; and though it 
 seems a cruel thing that Providence would permit the 
 murder of such a man, still it may have been the very 
 kindest thing that could be done for him." 
 
 Truly so, apostle of Infidelity ! The ways of God are 
 not our ways; and death, in itself considered, is not the 
 worst evil that can befall a Christian, ^ny, it is reck- 
 oned in the Bible as a part of his iidieritance — his gate- 
 way to the realm of everlasting light. Cut the form in 
 whicli death comes and the causes of its ap[iroach are 
 questions belonging to another and far different category. 
 A murderer may slay a servant of God, and by that 
 means the soul of the slaughtered shall be released from 
 the bt)ndage of the dust and exalted to a throne beyond 
 the stars. But the murderer shall be black all the same 
 with guilt. Yes, it is even so. Hundreds and thousands 
 of ministers are just now saying that very thing. Gar- 
 
10 
 
 iield was an Imiiihle and sincere belreverin tlie sah^ation 
 hy Jesus Christ, and tiii'oiigh his faith became an heir 
 of a glorious Ilesnrrection and a blessed Immortality. He 
 died in the zenith of earthly honor. He has gone to 
 join the immortal sages on the Mount of God. Imper- 
 fect donbtless he was, while here, as who of us is not; 
 Ijut his place in heroic story is made secure. He could 
 not have been more ennobled in choosing what he had 
 to sutfer and the manner in which he bore it, facing 
 death so long without a murmur, because he believed in 
 God and was trustfully lying in His hands. This grand 
 example has become the heritage of the Christian 
 church 5vn(l made the departed chieftain one of the il- 
 lustrious martyrs of the world. Had he lived longer 
 here he might have fallen from his high estate. His 
 death has made apostasy and disgrace to him impossible. 
 
 And so, too, let us still hope and pray that the Nation. 
 may continue, in spite of its follies and its sins, or rather, 
 that it may secure a final triumph over them. ]S"o single 
 man however great is essential to the perpetuity of a 
 State. Look back upon the lineage of our famous men. 
 They have died in the bosom of the Nation, and still 
 the Nation lives. God only can plant and pluck up 
 nations. The workmen cease, but the work goes on. 
 Arthur succeeds to Garfield ! The assassin's word proves 
 true. Strange phase of human authorship — a true 
 pro[)het behind a prison grate ! I confess my mind is 
 more dazed and confounded the more I permit myself 
 to think of it. Yes, Arthur sobs and sinKs almost faint- 
 ing into his chair as he takes in his grasp from the nerve- 
 less hand of the dying Garfield the fasces of this great 
 people's power; and his first act is to call the Nation 
 into the sanctuaries of God, entreating them to bow 
 there before the sacred altars in penitence and tears for 
 the memory of the dead, for the mighty work of the 
 living, and for the mercy of the Almighty — both to ruler 
 and people ! 
 
 Let us wait and watch and praj' ! God is educating 
 Americans in a strange school of His Providencti. We 
 have nuK'h to learn in the fiery furnace of afiiictie)n; i\u(} 
 if it be sometimes hard to be a (Christian, it is a million 
 times harder to be an infidel. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 
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