Chapter LI

THE HISTORY OF THE ASSASSINATION AND DEATH OF PRESIDENT JAMES A.
GARFIELD—THE GREAT TRAGEDY OF THE AGE.

Inauguration of President Garfield—Kissing His Venerable
Mother—Chief Magistrate of Fifty Million People—Illness of Mrs.
President Garfield—Tender Solicitude of the President for the
Welfare of His Wife—She Goes to Long Branch—The President’s
Plans to Meet Her—His Arrival at the Depot of the Baltimore and
Potomac R. R. at Washington—His Buoyant Spirits—Joyous
Anticipation of Meeting His Wife—The Assassin Lying in Wait—The
Fatal Shot—Tremendous Excitement—The Wounded President—His
Assassin, Charles J. Guiteau—Who He is—His Infamous Appearance
and Character—His Cool Deliberation—His Capture and
Imprisonment—A Thrill of Horror Throughout the Country—Removal
of the President to the White House—Arrival of Mrs.
Garfield—Her Courage and Devotion—The Fight for Life—Anxious
Days—Removal of the Wounded President to Long Branch—A
Remarkable Ride—Great Anxiety Throughout the Country—Fighting
Death—Slowly Sinking—After Eighty Days of Unparalleled
Suffering the President Breathes His Last—Grief and Gloom
throughout the Land—The Whole Civilized World in
Tears—Unprecedented Funeral and Memorial Honors—His Burial at
Cleveland—Attendance of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand
People—His Life and Character Reviewed, 606

Ten Years in Washington.

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