Not speech, certainly, not the careless words of an extemporaneous speech, can adequately express all the sentiments I feel in contemplating the fitting culmination of this deed. [Applause.] Only the voice of the immortal singer can bring from these arches those echoes which will tell us the true purpose of their construction. [Applause.]
You will permit me, then, to thank you, to thank the Mayor of Chicago, to thank the President of this Association, and to thank all those good citizens with whom I have to-day been brought in personal contact, for the kindness and respect with which you and they have received me; and you will permit me to thank you, my fellow-citizens, for the cordiality which you have kindly displayed here to-night.
It is my wish, and may it be the wish of all, that this great building may continue to be to all your population that which it should be—an edifice opening its doors from night to night, calling your people here away from the care of business to those enjoyments, and pursuits, and entertainments which develop the souls of men [applause], which will have power to inspire those whose lives are heavy with daily toil, and in its magnificent and enchanting presence lift them for a time out of these dull things into those higher things where men should live. [Great applause.]
[CLEVELAND, OHIO, MAY 30, 1890.]
Garfield Memorial Dedication.
On Decoration Day, 1890, President Harrison and Vice-President Morton, accompanied by Secretary Windom, Postmaster-General Wanamaker, Attorney-General Miller, Secretary of Agriculture Rusk, and Marshal Daniel M. Ransdell, visited the city of Cleveland for the purpose of participating in the dedication of the grand mausoleum erected to the memory of the lamented President James Abram Garfield. Fifty thousand people greeted the President and his party on arrival.
The mausoleum is situated in Lake View Cemetery, overlooking a region closely associated with Garfield's memory; it is built of Ohio sandstone—a large and imposing circular tower 50 feet in diameter, rising 180 feet. At the base projects a square porch, decorated externally with an historical frieze, divided into panels containing life-size bas-reliefs picturing the career of Garfield as teacher, statesman, soldier, and President. This imposing monument was erected under the auspices of the Garfield National Memorial Association, whose officers were: Rutherford B. Hayes, President; J. H. Wade and T. P. Handy, Vice-Presidents; Amos Townsend, Secretary. The Trustees of the Association were: Charles Foster, R. B. Hayes, James G. Blaine, H. B. Payne, J. H. Wade, Dan'l P. Eells, J. H. Rhodes, James Barnett, John Hay, T. P. Handy, J. B. Parsons, William Bingham, W. S. Streator, and H. C. White. The memorial cost $150,000, of which $75,000 was contributed by citizens of Cleveland; the architect was George Keller, of Hartford, Connecticut.
More than 100,000 people witnessed the parade and the dedicatory ceremonies, which were conducted under the auspices of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templars of Ohio—Right Eminent Henry Perkins, of Akron, Grand Commander; Very Eminent William B. Melish, of Cincinnati, Grand Marshal; Eminent Sir Huntington Brown, of Mansfield, Generalissimo; Eminent Sir L. F. Van Cleve, of Cincinnati, Grand Prelate; Eminent Sir H. P. McIntosh, of Cleveland, Grand Senior Warden; and Eminent Sir J. Burton Parsons, of Cleveland, Grand Treasurer. The committee to receive and entertain the guests from other cities comprised the following prominent residents of Cleveland: Hon. J. H. Wade, Dan'l P. Eells, M. A. Hanna, Col. William Edwards, Hon. R. C. Parsons, Henry D. Coffinberry, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Hon. George H. Ely, Hon. Joseph Turney, Samuel Andrews, Hon. S. Buhrer, Hon. H. B. Payne, Charles F. Brush, Hon. Charles A. Otis, R. K. Hawley, William Chisholm, H. R. Hatch, W. J. McKinnie, John Tod, Hon. N. B. Sherwin, L. E. Holden, George W. Howe, Samuel L. Mather, Judge S. Burke, Col. John Hay, Hon. T. E. Burton, Hon. R. R. Herrick, Selah Chamberlain, A. Wiener, Charles Wesley, Hon. Lee McBride, Hon. O. J. Hodge, H. C. Ranney, G. E. Herrick, Hon. W. W. Armstrong, S. T. Everett, Judge J. M. Jones, Hon. J. H. Farley, Hon. G. W. Gardner, R. R. Rhodes, J. B. Zerbe, Samuel W. Sessions, Louis H. Severance, Hon. M. A. Foran, Hon. C. B. Lockwood, Hon. William Bingham, John F. Whitelaw, Fayette Brown, Capt. P. G. Watmough, E. R. Perkins, Bolivar Butts, George T. Chapman, Hon. D. A. Dangler, Charles Hickox, and George W. Pack. Committee on Finance: John H. McBride, Myron T. Herrick, S. C. Ford, Joseph Turney, Charles L. Pack, H. S. Whittlesey, H. R. Groff, Percy W. Rice, Charles H. Bulkley, Douglas Perkins, Kaufman Hays, M. A. Hanna, T. S. Knight, James Parmelee, I. P. Lampson, Samuel Mather, O. M. Stafford, C. J. Sheffield, Harvey H. Brown, J. K. Bole, Dan'l P. Eells, H. R. Hatch, John F. Pankhurst, John Tod, and George P. Welch.
The event called together one of the most distinguished assemblies of the decade. Among the guests not previously mentioned—who occupied places of honor—were Gen. William T. Sherman, Chief-Justice Melville W. Fuller, Maj.-Gen. John M. Schofield, ex-Postmaster-General Thomas L. James, Gov. James E. Campbell, Lieutenant-Governor Marquis, Hon. William McKinley, Jr., Bishop William A. Leonard, Bishop Gilmour, Col. Wm. Perry Fogg, and many others. Mrs. Garfield was accompanied by her four sons, her daughter, and General and Mrs. John Newell.