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Rutherford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Garfield + Farm-boy, Soldier, and President + +Author: William G. Rutherford + +Release Date: May 27, 2007 [EBook #21621] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GARFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +</pre> + + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +[Frontispiece: Portrait of James Garfield (missing from book)] +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF GARFIELD +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +<I>FARM-BOY, SOLDIER, AND PRESIDENT</I> +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By WILLIAM G. RUTHERFORD +</H3> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +<I>TWENTY-NINTH THOUSAND</I> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +LONDON: +<BR> +THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION +<BR> +57 AND 59 LUDGATE HILL, E.C. +<BR> +1895 +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAP.</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">THE FAR WEST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE PIONEERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">A FIRE IN THE FOREST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">THE FOUR SAPLINGS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">A RESTLESS SCHOLAR</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">MAN-MAKING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">THE TWO BROTHERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">HOUSE-BUILDING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">FAITHFUL WORK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE ROPE THAT SAVED HIM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">STRIKING OUT A NEW LINE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">TEACHING AND LEARNING</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">FINDING FRIENDS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">THE FIRST BLOW</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">DARK DAYS FOR THE UNION</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">WINNING HIS SPURS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">FILLING THE GAP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">THE HOUR AND THE MAN</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">LOOKING BACK</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +PORTRAIT OF JAMES GARFIELD (missing) . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-019"> +THE TREES FELL BEFORE HIS AXE +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-028"> +TOM BORROWED A HORSE +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-045"> +SHE DRIED HER TEARS AND ASKED GOD TO SUPPORT HER +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-047"> +AN AMERICAN FARMSTEAD +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-055"> +THE CARPENTER SET ABOUT HIS TASK +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-064"> +HE NEVER TIRED OF READING +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-069"> +ON BOARD THE CANAL BOAT +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-097"> +NEGROES STOLEN FROM THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA WERE<BR> +SOLD INTO SLAVERY +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-103"> +THE DEFENCE OF FORT SUMTER +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-119"> +GARFIELD AND HIS REGIMENT GOING INTO ACTION +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-133"> +MRS. JAMES GARFIELD +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-139"> +THE WHITE HOUSE +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE STORY OF GARFIELD. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FAR WEST. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The United States Sixty Years ago—The "Queen City" of the West—The +Rush for New Lands—Marvellous Growth of American Cities. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Go to Liverpool or Glasgow, and embark on one of the great ocean +steamers, which are constantly crossing the Atlantic. Sail westwards +for about a week, and you will reach the eastern shores of the New +World. +</P> + +<P> +If you land at New York, you will find yourself in one of the largest +cities on the face of the globe. You will also find the country +largely peopled by the same race as yourself, and everywhere you will +be addressed in your own language. You may travel for weeks from town +to town, and from city to city, until you are lost in wonder at the +vast and populous empire which English-speaking people have founded and +built up on the other side of the Atlantic. +</P> + +<P> +Where is the New World of fancy and fiction so graphically described in +Indian stories and tales of backwoods life? And where are the vast +prairies and almost boundless forests of sober fact, where the bear, +the wolf, and the buffalo roamed at will—the famous hunting-grounds of +the Red Indians and the trappers of the Old World? +</P> + +<P> +Where is the "Far West" of song and story? Where are the scenes of +Fenimore Cooper's charming descriptions, which have thrown a halo of +romance over the homes of the early settlers who first explored those +unknown regions? +</P> + +<P> +For the most part they are gone for ever, as they appeared to the eyes +of the pioneers and pathfinders, who wandered for weeks through the +wilderness, without hearing the sound of any human voice but their own. +Now on forest and prairie land stand great cities, equal in population +and wealth to many famous places, which were grey with age before the +New World was discovered. The trading posts, once scattered over a +wide region, where Indians and white hunters met to barter the skins of +animals for fire-water and gunpowder, have disappeared before the +advances of civilisation, and the uninhabited wilderness of fifty years +ago has become the centre of busy industries of world-wide fame and +importance. +</P> + +<P> +Sixty years ago, fifteen of the largest cities in the United States had +no existence. They were not born. Living men remember when they were +first staked out on the unbroken prairie, and the woodsman's axe was +busy clearing the ground for the log huts of the first settlers who +founded the cities of to-day. +</P> + +<P> +At that period, Chicago, now a "Millionaire city," and the second in +America, consisted of a little fort and a few log huts. There was +scarcely a white woman in the settlement, and no roads had been +constructed. The ground on which the great city now stands could have +been bought for the sum now demanded for a few square feet in one of +its busy streets. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder the American people are proud of "the Queen City of the +West." It stands far inland, a thousand miles from the ocean, and yet +it is an important port on the shores of Lake Michigan, and steamers +from London can land their cargoes at its quays. More than twenty +thousand vessels enter and leave the port in one year. It is the +greatest grain and provision market in the world. +</P> + +<P> +It may with truth be said that in America cities rise up almost in a +night-time. The forest and the prairie are one day out of the reach of +civilisation, and the next they are one with the throbbing centres of +life and progress. The railway, the means of communication, changes +all as by a wizard's touch. +</P> + +<P> +One day the news spread through a certain district, that two lines of +railway were to cross at a certain point in the wilderness. Settlers +at once crowded to the place, and next day the land was staked out in +town lots, with all the details of streets, squares, and market-place. +Soon afterwards, shanties were seen on the prairies, moving with all +speed, on rollers, towards the new town. On the second day a number of +houses were under construction, while the owners camped near by in +tents. In a few months hundreds of dwellings had been erected, and a +newspaper established to chronicle the doings of the inhabitants. +</P> + +<P> +"The old nations of the earth creep on at snail's pace: the Republic +thunders past with the rush of an express," says a recent American +writer. "Think of it!" he continues; "a Great Britain and Ireland +called forth from the wilderness, as if by magic, in less than the span +of a man's few days upon earth." +</P> + +<P> +This marvellous growth and rapid change from wilderness to cultivation +must be known and understood by readers on this side of the Atlantic, +they can appreciate the story of a Lincoln or a Garfield who began life +in a log hut in a backwoods settlement in the Far West, and made their +way to the White House, the residence of the ruler of an empire as +large as the whole of Europe. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PIONEERS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +A New England Village—Hardships of Emigrants—The Widow Ballou and her +Daughter Eliza—The Humble Dwelling of Abram Garfield—The Garfields +and the Boyntons—The Removal to a New Home—The Wonderful Baby-Boy. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The early settlers from the Old World first peopled the eastern shores +of the Atlantic, and founded the New England States, New York State, +and the whole seaboard from Maine to Florida. +</P> + +<P> +A New England village was a collection of log houses on the edge of a +deep forest. Snow drifted into the room through the cracks in the +walls, and the howling of wolves made night hideous around them. The +children were taught in log schoolhouses, and the people worshipped in +log churches. +</P> + +<P> +Savage Indians kept the settlers in a state of continual fear. +Sometimes they would suddenly surround a solitary house, kill all the +inmates, and set fire to the dwelling. Again and again have the +children been aroused from their sleep by the fearful Indian war-whoop, +which was more dreaded than the howling of the wolves. Even women +learned to use guns and other weapons, that they might be able to +defend their homes from these savage assaults. +</P> + +<P> +The log house villages grew into populous places, and the descendants +of the "Pilgrims" were not always satisfied to remain in the cities +founded by their forefathers. Wonderful stories were told in the towns +of the amazing fruitfulness of the forest and prairie land out West, +which induced large numbers to sell their property and set out on the +tedious and adventurous journey. +</P> + +<P> +Before the great lines of railway were constructed, which now stretch +across the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, +there was a constant stream of emigration from the East to the West. +Large waggons carried the women and children, and the stores of +necessary articles, which must be conveyed at all cost, for they could +not be obtained in the localities to which the pioneers bent their +steps. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the emigrant trains made their way through roadless regions. +They had to ford rivers, wade through swamps, and cut paths through +thick forests. Weeks, and even months, were spent on journeys which +are now accomplished in less than twenty-four hours. +</P> + +<P> +Numerous difficulties and manifold dangers beset the wanderers' path; +yet, regardless of both, they pushed on with infinite courage and +patience. Nor was the journey through the wilds without a tinge of +romance to the younger and more adventurous spirits, who enjoyed the +freedom they could not have in the towns and cities. +</P> + +<P> +About eighty years ago, a widow and her family—a son and a +daughter—packed up all their worldly possessions in an emigrant +waggon, and started for the West. Widow Ballou made her home in the +State of Ohio, which at that time was only peopled by a few scattered +settlers. Five years afterwards, a young man named Abram Garfield +started on the same journey. It is said that he was more anxious to +renew his acquaintance with the Ballou family than to make his fortune. +The widow's daughter Eliza was the attraction that drew him into the +Western wilds. +</P> + +<P> +On the third of February 1821, Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou became +man and wife, and their first home was a log cabin, which the young +husband erected at Newburg, near Cleveland. It was an isolated spot, +for Cleveland, the larger place, then consisted of a few log cabins, +containing a population of about one hundred persons. +</P> + +<P> +The humble dwelling of Abram Garfield and his young wife had but one +large room. The three windows were of greased paper, a substitute for +glass, and the furniture was home made and of the rudest description. +Wood was the chief material used. There were wooden stools, a wooden +bed, and wooden plates and dishes. A frying-pan, an iron pot, and a +kettle, made up the list of utensils which were absolutely necessary. +</P> + +<P> +Nine years passed away, during which the young couple were very happy +in each other's love, and three children were added to their little +family circle. Abram worked on the land, and was for a time employed +in the construction of the Ohio and Pennsylvanian Canal. To provide +for his growing family, the young husband then bought fifty acres of +land, a few miles away from his first home. At the same time, Amos +Boynton, who had married Mrs. Garfield's sister, also bought a tract of +land in the same locality. +</P> + +<P> +The two families removed to the new scene of their labours at the same +time, and lived together in one log cabin, until they had erected a +second dwelling. When this was done, the Garfields and the Boyntons +settled down to reclaim the wilderness. They had to depend on each +other for society, as their nearest neighbour lived seven miles away. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield's new home was built of unhewn logs, notched and laid one upon +another, to the height of twelve feet in front and eight feet behind. +The spaces between the logs were filled with clay and mud, to keep out +the wind and the rain. The roof was covered with boards, and the floor +was made of logs, each split into two parts and laid the flat side up. +A plank door and three small windows completed the primitive dwelling. +There was but one large room on the ground floor, twenty by thirty +feet, and a loft above, to which access was obtained by a ladder. In +the loft were the straw beds on which the children slept. +</P> + +<P> +The land which the pioneers had bought was part of the forest, and was +therefore covered with timber. This had to be cleared away before the +land could be brought into cultivation. Much hard work and steady +application were needed to accomplish this purpose. Abram Garfield was +a strong, well-made man, who shrank from no labour, however hard, and +boldly faced every difficulty with a stout heart and a determined will. +Early and late he toiled on his farm, cheered by the presence of his +wife and children, who were all the world to him. The trees fell +before his axe, and ere long he had room to sow his first crop. With a +thankful heart he saw the grain ripen, and his first harvest was safely +gathered in before the winter storms came on. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-019"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-019.jpg" ALT="The trees fell before his axe." BORDER="2" WIDTH="355" HEIGHT="551"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 355px"> +The trees fell before his axe. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +In January 1830 he removed to his new home, and in November 1831 his +fourth child was born. This baby boy received the name of James Abram +Garfield. Little did the humble backwoodsman dream that the name he +lovingly gave his child would one day be on the lips of millions of his +fellow-countrymen; that it would rank with those of princes, kings, and +emperors; and that it would be linked for ever with the history of the +United States of America. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A FIRE IN THE FOREST. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Effects of Prairie Fires—How Abram Garfield saved his Crops—The +sudden Illness and Death of Abram Garfield—The Grave to the corner of +the Wheatfield. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +One of General Sherman's veteran soldiers was once describing a prairie +fire. When he had finished his story, he raised himself to his full +six feet height, and with flashing eyes said, "If I should ever catch a +man firing a prairie or a forest, as God helps me, I would shoot him +down in his deed." +</P> + +<P> +No wonder that the old soldier was fired with indignation when he +thought of the terrible consequences which often resulted from such +thoughtless or wanton proceedings. The loss to settlers is often +appalling. The prairies, which in the day-time seem dry, dull, and +uninteresting, give place at night to the lurid play of the fire fiend, +and the heavens and horizon seem like a furnace. It is a grand, yet +awful sight. Cheeks blanch as the wind sweeps its volume towards the +observer, or across his track. +</P> + +<P> +Full in the distance is seen the long line of bright flame stretching +for miles, with its broad band of dark smoke-clouds above. Often it +rages unchecked for miles and miles, where the cabins of the settlers +have just been set up. No words can describe, no pencil paint, the +look of terror when the settler beholds advancing towards him the +devouring element. When it is first seen, all hands turn out, and a +desperate attempt is made to overcome the common foe. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes a counter fire is started, which, proceeding from the +settler's log house in the face of the wind, towards the grander coming +volume, takes away its force, and leaves it nothing to feed upon. Then +it dies away in that direction. In one instance an emigrant was +travelling in a close covered waggon, when he was overtaken by the +flames. In a moment, horses, family, waggon, and everything were +destroyed, and scarcely a vestige remained of what had been. +</P> + +<P> +Abram Garfield had successfully planted his second crop, which was +nearly ready for the harvest, when he one day heard the terrible cry, +"A fire in the forest." No one knew better than he did the meaning of +those fearful words. Not a moment was to be lost, for he saw that it +was coming in the direction of his little farm. He had no one to help +him but his wife and his two eldest children, but they all set to work +to save their home and the ripening crops. +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly they threw up a bank of earth between the fields and the coming +fire, and they so far succeeded that it swept round their homestead and +continued its progress beyond. +</P> + +<P> +After the long, hard fight with the fire, on a hot day in July, Mr. +Garfield sat down on the trunk of a tree to rest. He had, however, +conquered one enemy only to fall a victim to another. While sitting +resting, and cooling himself in the open air, he caught a chill. That +night he awoke in great pain, and his wife thought that he would die +before help could be obtained. +</P> + +<P> +In the early morning she sent her daughter Mehetabel for Uncle Boynton, +and bade Thomas fetch their nearest neighbour. No doctor lived near, +and the friends did all they could for the stricken man. Their efforts +were in vain. Gradually he became weaker, and then without a struggle +he passed away. His last words to his wife were: "I have planted four +saplings in these woods; I must now leave them to your care." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield carried her burden of sorrow to that Heavenly Father whom +she had learned to trust before the dark cloud of bereavement fell upon +her heart and home. But for her confidence in God, and her belief that +He would aid her to bring up her fatherless children, she might have +given up in despair. +</P> + +<P> +Far from churchyard or cemetery, the widow arranged to bury her dead in +the plot of land he had saved from the fire, at the cost of his life. +A rough wooden box was made to contain the remains of the brave husband +and loving father, and a grave was dug in a corner of the wheatfield. +Four or five neighbours, all who lived within a radius of ten miles, +attended the funeral, and tried to cheer the hearts of the widow and +orphans by sympathetic words and kind and thoughtful actions. Tenderly +they bore the body of Abram Garfield to its last resting-place and +committed it to the earth, without a prayer except the silent ones +which no ear but God's heard. +</P> + +<P> +Then they accompanied the bereaved ones back to their own desolate +home. How desolate it was, none who read this book can fully realise. +To be alone in the wilderness is an awful experience, which intensified +the loss a hundred-fold. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FOUR SAPLINGS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Father's Dying Charge—Advised to give up the Farm—A Noble +Resolve—Brave little Thomas—A Hard Time of Trial—The Harvest that +saved the Family. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield had no time to nurse her sorrow. She knew that she must +be up and doing, for she had to be both father and mother to her +children. "The four saplings" which the dying father had committed to +her care were so young that she could scarcely expect much assistance +from them. +</P> + +<P> +Winter was fast approaching, and the strong arm of the husband and +father would have been severely taxed to supply all the wants of the +family. Without the breadwinner there seemed to be nothing before them +but starvation. Uncle Boynton was consulted, and he advised his +sister-in-law to give up her farm and return to her friends. He said +that she could not hope to carry it on alone, and by her unaided +efforts support her children. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield saw how dark the future was, and yet she could not follow +the advice so kindly given. She thought of the lonely grave in the +wheatfield, and declared that nothing would induce her to move away +from that sacred spot. She felt somehow that she derived comfort and +support from the knowledge that she was near the dead husband, who had +prepared this home for her and her children. Added to this feeling, +there was the self-respect which independence always brings. She saw +that if she sold her farm, which was only partly paid for, the money +she received would be swallowed up in paying debts, and in the cost of +the removal of her family. But this would leave her and her children +homeless and penniless, and she decided to remain on the farm. +</P> + +<P> +It was a noble resolve, and came from a brave heart. To remain meant +years of hard work, years of patient endurance, years of quiet +suffering and numberless privations; yet she calmly faced them all, +that she might do her duty to her children, and faithfully discharge +the trust imposed upon her. First, she sold a part of her farm, and +with the money she paid her debts. Then, asking God to help her, she +prepared to fight her way through the difficulties which beset her path. +</P> + +<P> +Her eldest son, Thomas, was only eleven years old when his father died. +Mehetabel, his sister, was twelve, a younger sister was seven, and +James was not quite two. Thomas was a brave little fellow, and when +his mother spoke to him about the work that would have to be done, he +offered to undertake it all. Though a boy in years, he spoke and acted +like a man. +</P> + +<P> +That first winter, alone in the backwoods, was a terrible time. +Snowstorms swept around the humble dwelling, and wolves howled in the +forest during the long winter nights. Often the children lay awake in +terror when they heard the fearful cries of the hungry animals, and +knew that their brave protector was no longer there to defend them from +danger. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as spring came round once more, Thomas borrowed a horse from a +neighbour, and went about the farm work as he had seen his father do. +With the assistance of his mother and, his eldest sister, he planted +wheat, corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. Then his mother helped +him to fence the wheatfield which contained her husband's grave. With +her own hands she brought wood from the forest and split it up into +rails for that purpose. Then the whole of the cleared land, in which +the log house stood, was fenced, and the patient workers waited for the +harvest. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-028"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-028.jpg" ALT="Tom borrowed a horse." BORDER="2" WIDTH="227" HEIGHT="303"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 227px"> +Tom borrowed a horse. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The waiting time is often the hardest to bear. Slowly but surely their +little store of corn grew less and less. Fearing to run short before +the harvest gave them a fresh supply, Mrs. Garfield carefully measured +their slender stock, and as carefully doled out the daily allowance +which alone would enable them to pull through. +</P> + +<P> +She had no money to buy more, and therefore she gave up one meal a day +for herself, that her children might not suffer from hunger. Still she +found that there was barely sufficient, and the devoted mother took +only one meal a day until the harvest gave a fresh supply. +</P> + +<P> +Nor did her children know that she pinched herself for their sakes; as +far as they knew, she had enough, and her self-denial was not allowed +to throw a shadow over their young lives, by the thought that their +mother was starving herself that they might not suffer. +</P> + +<P> +A bountiful harvest, in the autumn of 1834, put an end to the +long-continued strain, and from that time the little household had +sufficient food. When the noble mother saw her table once more well +supplied with the necessaries of life, she thanked God for all His +goodness and loving-kindness to her little flock. Her children had +indeed been saved from the pain of hunger, but she never lost the deep +lines of care and anxiety brought upon her face in those early years of +her widowhood. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A RESTLESS SCHOLAR. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +An Intelligent Child—The First School—James questions the +Teacher—Mrs. Garfield's Offer—Winning a Prize. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"Eliza, this boy will be a scholar some day!" said Abram Garfield when +speaking of James to his wife a short time before his death. Even at +that early age, for the little fellow was not two years old, his father +saw an unusual intelligence manifested, which gave him a high estimate +of his baby boy's intellect. +</P> + +<P> +His mother took great delight in telling him Bible stories, and his +inquiring mind prompted him to ask many curious questions, which +sounded strange coming from one so young. His acquaintance with the +stories of Noah and the Flood, Joseph and his coat of many colours, +Moses and the Red Sea, and other old Testament incidents, was +remarkable. +</P> + +<P> +Often he amused the children by asking questions, some of which none of +them could answer. Then his eyes sparkled with delight as he gave the +required information. His retentive memory never seemed to be at +fault. What he once heard he remembered. The sturdy pioneers, who had +turned their backs on towns and cities to make their homes in the +wilderness, did not wish their children to grow up in ignorance. The +little settlement soon became a village, and the opening of a school +was an event of the greatest importance. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield heard the news with thankfulness. A school only a mile +and a half away was a boon to her and her children. Now they would get +the education required to fit them for a useful life. More than this +she did not dare to look forward to. +</P> + +<P> +Jimmy was only three years old when the welcome news reached the log +cabin. Thomas, who was not thirteen, at once decided that his little +brother should go to school. He would have been glad to go as well, +but he knew that his time would be fully occupied in digging up the +potatoes and harvesting the corn. Never was mother prouder of her son +than was Mrs. Garfield of the sturdy lad, who was ready and anxious to +fill a father's place to his brother and sisters, at an age when most +boys think only of tops and kites. +</P> + +<P> +About this time Jimmy had his first pair of shoes. Thomas was the good +fairy who provided them. By doing odd jobs for a neighbour, he earned +enough money to pay the shoemaker. As houses were few and far between, +it was the custom for the man to live and do his work in the houses of +those who employed him. The happy boy had therefore the pleasure of +watching the shoemaker at work. He saw the leather cut into shape, and +then formed into shoes to fit his feet. Then there came the joy of +wearing them, and the satisfaction of being able to run about without +fear of treading on a sharp stone or thorn. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield was busy with her needle for days before the school +opened, preparing the necessary clothing, that her children might +appear neat and tidy. And when the day came round, Mehetabel set out +with Jimmy on her back, and her younger sister by her side. When they +returned, Mrs. Garfield and Thomas eagerly questioned the scholars, who +declared that they had had "such a good time." Full of excitement, +they described the events of the day, and regarded the twenty-one +scholars present as a most astonishing number. +</P> + +<P> +Yet the school was but a log cabin, like the one in which the Garfield +family lived. The teacher was a young man, who taught school one part +of the year to earn money to pay for his education in the other part. +The teacher received a certain sum of money for his work, and the +parents of the children took him by turns to board in their houses. +James was an apt scholar, and at once began to question the teacher, to +the no small amusement of the scholars. When the teacher told him +anything, he wanted to know why it was so, and how the teacher knew. +And this curiosity extended to the names of the letters of the alphabet. +</P> + +<P> +Winter came, and James pursued his studies at home. The long winter +evenings were spent in reading. Lying on the wooden floor, he eagerly +read page after page, by the light of the huge log fire which burned on +the hearth. Before he was six years old he had read every book within +his reach, and wanted more. Wishful to shorten the journey to school, +Mrs. Garfield offered to give a piece of land on one corner of her +farm, if her neighbours would put up a building on it. Those who lived +near welcomed the project, and the schoolhouse was built. +</P> + +<P> +Then she obtained a teacher from New Hampshire, where she was born, and +she arranged that he should begin by boarding with them. Then the +whole family worked hard to get all the farm work done before he came, +that Thomas might take advantage of his presence among them. The new +teacher found his pupils, and especially our friend Jimmy, so very +restless, that he made the following rule: "Scholars cannot study their +lessons and look about the room; therefore gazing about is strictly +forbidden." +</P> + +<P> +James did not know that his attention was everywhere, and that he was +always on the alert to hear and to see everything that went on, until +he had several times been reminded of the rule. Again and again he +pleaded that he had forgotten, and bent his eyes on his book, only to +lift them again a few minutes afterwards, to look at something which +arrested his attention. +</P> + +<P> +At first the teacher did not understand the active, restless mind that +kept the boy in a state of perpetual motion, and he was disappointed +when he found that the better James obeyed his rule, the slower +progress he made. The fact that he had to think about the rule, and +the effort he made to be still and attentive to one thing, retarded him +more than any involuntary motions would have done. The teacher spoke +to Mrs. Garfield about her boy's restlessness, and said that he feared +he should not be able to make a scholar of James. She was so much +grieved to hear this, that the little fellow burst into tears, and, +burying his face in his mother's lap, said, "I will be a good boy! I +mean to be a good boy!" +</P> + +<P> +The teacher saw that he had made a mistake, and that, in trying to keep +the boy perfectly still, he was cramping his energies and repressing +his natural activity of mind and body. From that day the lad made +rapid progress, and he finished the term by winning the prize of a New +Testament, which had been promised to the scholar who was best in study +and behaviour. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MAN-MAKING. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +At Work on the Farm—A Good Mother's Teaching—A School Incident—The +Building of a New School—Bible Lessons—The Garfields' Motto. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The Garfield farm provided for many of the wants of the family, but +money was needed to provide clothing and books, and to pay the teachers +who came from time to time. Thomas, therefore, earned all he could by +engaging himself for short periods to any of the neighbours who +required help. James attended school before he was four years old, and +began to work on the farm when he was only eight. In the absence of +Thomas he took his elder brother's place. He chopped wood, milked the +cows, and made himself useful in a variety of ways. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield was anxious to give Thomas a chance to make his way in +the world, and therefore she arranged that James should make himself as +perfect as possible in farm work before Thomas was of age. At the same +time, she told James that she looked forward to the time when he would +be able to take his place as a teacher or a preacher. In the meantime, +it was his duty to do the work that lay nearest to his hand. Just as +he set himself to learn with all his might, in the same way he went +about the work of the farm. When anything had to be done, he said, "I +can do it," and he did. He was not always successful at the first +attempt, but his self-reliance caused him to peg away in the face of +every difficulty and even seeming failure, and he invariably succeeded +in the end. +</P> + +<P> +His mother was ever on the watch to help him by her kindly counsels and +wise advice. Many an old proverb, which sank deep into the lad's heart +and helped to build up his character, first fell on his ears from his +mother's lips. She taught him that man's will to do well was rewarded +by God's blessing on his labours. The will to do finds the way to do, +and God helps the one who does his best. +</P> + +<P> +This was a revelation to James, who thought that God only helped people +to be good. His mother opened his eyes to the fact that this meant to +be good in everything—"good boys, good men, good workers, good +thinkers, good farmers, and good teachers." After that, he regarded +God as One who would help him in his daily labour and make all his +efforts successful. Or, in other words, he saw clearly the truth of +the proverb: "God helps those who help themselves." +</P> + +<P> +Two phases of his character were developed at a very early age, and +these, coupled with good natural abilities, made him master of the +situation. As we have already seen, he had plenty of self-reliance, +the feeling that he could do anything that could be done, and the +determination to make the most of himself. Then he was ready-witted, +and able to grapple with unexpected emergencies. This will be seen in +an incident which took place when he was a boy at school. +</P> + +<P> +One day he was sitting by the side of his cousin, Henry Boynton, when +the two lads began to indulge in little tricks with each other. The +teacher noticed their inattention, and, when they laughed out a little +louder than they had intended, he called out, "James and Henry, lay +aside your books and go home, both of you." +</P> + +<P> +They were so little prepared for such a course of action, that for a +moment they remained in their seats with very serious looks in their +faces. They both knew that the teacher's authority would be supported +at home, and that their parents would be grieved, if not angry, at such +a wanton breach of the rules of the school, as that of which they had +been guilty. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't dilly-dally!" exclaimed the teacher; "go home immediately!" +</P> + +<P> +The boys passed out of the door at once, and sadly turned homewards, +wondering how to make the best of the disaster which had befallen them. +You will remember that the school was built on the Garfield farm, and +that therefore it was quite near James's home. The sharp little fellow +suddenly thought of this, and off he ran as fast as he could. Without +being seen by his mother, he reached home, and started back again to +the school. Then, without a word, he slipped inside and took his seat. +</P> + +<P> +Looking up, the teacher saw him sitting there, and, never thinking that +his order had been obeyed, he called out in a severe tone of voice, +"James, did I not tell you to go home?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have been home," said the boy quite calmly. +</P> + +<P> +"Been home?" replied the teacher, who was at a loss how to deal with +the boy's ready wit in getting out of the difficulty. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir," he said, "I have been home. You did not tell me to stay +there." +</P> + +<P> +What could the teacher do under such circumstances but tell the boy +that he might remain? He saw that James had learned a lesson, and +would not again incur the risk of being sent home in disgrace. Unlike +many boys, James showed neither a sulky nor a discontented spirit. He +knew that the punishment was deserved, and therefore he set about +undoing the mischief by prompt obedience, and his ready wit suggested a +way out of the trouble. +</P> + +<P> +Before he left home, Thomas was anxious to make his mother as +comfortable as possible. When he heard that the people of the district +had decided to build a better school, he bought the old one, and +removed it. Then he rebuilt it alongside his mother's cabin. +</P> + +<P> +Sunday was regarded by the pioneers as a day of rest, but the younger +members of the various families had never even seen a place of worship. +Now and then a travelling preacher called at the settlement, and during +his brief stay held a service in one of the log cabins or in the +schoolhouse. A journey of five or six miles was often taken to be +present at such a service. Whole families, in waggons, on horseback, +and even on foot, might have been seen wending their way to the place +appointed. +</P> + +<P> +The opportunities for public worship were too few to be neglected, and +the dwellers in the wilderness set a high value on such occasional +ministrations. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield eagerly welcomed the preachers of the gospel who passed +that way, and was glad to place the best fare her cabin afforded before +the earnest men, who braved many dangers, and suffered innumerable +inconveniences, to break to the settlers the Bread of life. The Bible +was the Book of books in the Garfield cabin. Every day it gave the +widow and her children the Divine message, and on Sundays Mrs. Garfield +never failed to do the duty of teacher and preacher to her little flock. +</P> + +<P> +The reading of God's book every day, and especially on God's day, was +her invariable rule, until her children knew more about the contents +and the teaching of the sacred volume, than many town children who +enjoyed greater privileges and more numerous opportunities. +</P> + +<P> +How and why the Bible was written, were questions which Mrs. Garfield +answered as well as she was able. Why men were wicked, and what +hindered them from being good, puzzled James. To him it was a great +mystery that any one could continue to do wrong when God was always +willing to help them to do right. +</P> + +<P> +At this time a great wave of temperance passed over that part of the +country, and James at once questioned his mother about the movement. +Living so far away from the centres of population, the lad had no +opportunity of seeing for himself the terrible evils of drunkenness. +As far as it was necessary, his mother told him of the mischief done by +strong drink, and how much better it was to have nothing to do with it. +Here again the self-reliant boy had a difficulty. Just as he could not +understand how men could help being good, neither could he understand +how they could continue to drink, when they found that it only ended in +ruin. Yet he heard enough to convince him that strong drink was an +enemy, and therefore, at the early age of eight, he became a temperance +reformer. Little did the patient mother think that her humble efforts +at man-making would produce such grand results, and that she was +rearing in that lonely cabin one of the noblest characters the world +has ever seen. +</P> + +<P> +The motto of the Garfield family was, "Through faith I conquer." That +motto was woven into the life of the boy. Pure in spirit, prompt in +action, loyal in thought and deed to God and his mother, James came to +regard the boy or man who did not dare to do right as the greatest +coward of all. +</P> + +<P> +With such a firm foundation to rest upon, we do not wonder that James +Garfield's life has been, and will be, an inspiration to many young men +on both sides of the Atlantic. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWO BROTHERS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +A New House—Thomas leaves Home—Sorrow at Parting—James left to +Manage the Farm—The Value of Experience. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +At length Thomas was twenty-one, and the time had come for him to go +out into the world and make a way for himself. One thing he at that +time desired above all others, and that was to build a better house for +his mother. +</P> + +<P> +To do this properly it was necessary to engage a carpenter, who would +make the necessary framework. Then Thomas and James would help him to +put up the building. But money was needed to carry out the +undertaking, and this was the purpose to which Thomas decided to devote +his first earnings when he left home. +</P> + +<P> +One day Thomas returned from an expedition in search of work, in high +glee. He had obtained employment in the State of Michigan. He had +engaged to assist in clearing the forest, that is, in cutting down +trees for a man who was about to make a farm. His wages were to be +fifty shillings a month. This sum seemed a very large amount to James, +who seldom saw much money, and did not know the important part it plays +in towns and cities. Though Mrs. Garfield knew that it was better, +both for the family and for her eldest son, that he should go away and +take a place, a man among men, yet she was very anxious that no evil +should befall him. +</P> + +<P> +Thomas had been a faithful son and a loving brother. He had been the +mainstay of the family since that sad day when the grave in the +wheatfield hid from their eyes the remains of the husband and father, +who had never spared himself in his efforts to provide for them. +</P> + +<P> +How much she had leaned on her noble son, even she hardly realised, +until she saw him preparing to leave her. The loving labours, the +strong hand, and the wise counsels of her boy, now a man, would be +sorely missed, yet she dried her tears, and asked the God in whom she +had trusted to support her in this new trial, and, above all, to be +with the lad. If God was with her son, she knew that all would be +well, and that he would come unscathed from the world and its +temptations. So, smiling through her tears, she bade him God-speed. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-045"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-045.jpg" ALT="She dried her tears and asked God to support her." BORDER="2" WIDTH="358" HEIGHT="342"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 400px"> +She dried her tears and asked God to support her. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +To James the parting was no less painful. He had confidence in +himself, and manfully made up his mind to fill his brother's place. +Yet he could not see the big brother, who was so dear to him, and who +had done so much for him, go away without feeling an aching void in his +heart. And Thomas—what about him? Did he lightly step out into the +world, and, glad to enjoy a sense of freedom, go on his new path +without a thought of those he was leaving behind? Not so. The man who +as a boy often had so nobly filled a father's place was still a son and +a brother. He left the log cabin because he knew that by doing so he +could the better help the loved ones who remained behind. Every day, +every hour, the gentle, loving mother whom he loved best in all the +world would in spirit be with him. The clever brother of whom he was +so proud would be ever in his thoughts, and the two sisters who had so +faithfully performed their part would not be forgotten. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-047"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-047.jpg" ALT="An American Farmstead." BORDER="2" WIDTH="535" HEIGHT="376"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 535px"> +An American Farmstead. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Brave, noble-hearted, hard-working Thomas Garfield! though only known +to the world through his more gifted brother, he belongs to that grand +army of self-sacrificing spirits who leave a bright and shining track +behind them, and who everywhere make the wilderness and the desert +place to blossom like the rose. +</P> + +<P> +While Thomas was cutting down trees in Michigan, James was playing the +part of "boy farmer" to the satisfaction of all who knew him. He was +but twelve years of age, and yet he went about his work like a man. He +said that he could take his brother's place, and he did it. Even the +neighbours began to speak with admiration of the diligent lad who was +trying so earnestly to fill his elder brother's place. James worked +cheerfully; he was satisfied to do his best in the position in which he +found himself. He was satisfied to remain in that position until he +had qualified himself for a better. He had hopes and ambitions about +the future, but his whole time and energies were so occupied in doing +his best, that he never for one moment felt the unrest which +accompanies a discontented spirit. +</P> + +<P> +James did not know the meaning of the word "hardship" in the sense +their neighbour used it. Did it mean hard work? Not to James, for he +was able to do it. Did it mean hard fare? No, for he had enough to +satisfy all his wants. In the companionship of his mother and sisters, +with health and strength, food and raiment, where was the hardship? +That was a question which James could not answer. He had not yet seen +and coveted the pleasures, the luxuries, nor even the conveniences of +the dwellers in towns. He had not felt the want of anything he did not +possess or enjoy. Therefore, while he hoped to be such a man as his +mother had often described, he was content to leave the future to take +care of itself, and was only concerned in making the most of himself in +the present. +</P> + +<P> +The first season that James had alone, when single-handed he did the +work of the farm, was a severe strain on one so young, but his +readiness to plan or invent some way of meeting difficulties again +stood him in good stead. He found that by exchanging work with a +neighbour he could help both. So he bargained with a farmer to give +him a hand when he had a little spare time, and the farmer in return +agreed to lend James his oxen when he needed them. +</P> + +<P> +When the end of the season came, James felt that the responsibility he +had assumed, and the work he had carried through, had made a man of +him. The daily round of necessary toil, and the constant need for +careful consideration and foresight, were an invaluable experience and +discipline, which nothing else would have given him. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOUSE-BUILDING. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +"James must be a Scholar"—Thomas returns Home and builds a New +House—A Lesson in Carpentering—The Volume of Robinson Crusoe—James +eager to Travel. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield was glad to see James so contented with his work on the +farm, but she was not satisfied to think that his life should be spent +in cultivating the soil. One day she spoke to him about this, and said +that she wished him to become a scholar. He replied that he also had +the same desire—in fact, that he should like nothing better—but he +did not see how he could obtain the education. +</P> + +<P> +It was this view of the case that troubled his mother. She could not +see any way out of the difficulty, and therefore she had once more to +leave her case in the hands of God. He had made a way for them in +times past, when human eyes could see no path, and she believed that He +would again render the necessary assistance. +</P> + +<P> +It was a happy day in the Garfields' cabin when Thomas returned. James +was the first to see him, and with a loud cry of joy he ran off to meet +and welcome his brother. Their mother heard that cry, and from her +cabin door she saw her two sons approaching hand in hand. They were +both speaking at once, and the burden of their conversation was +expressed in the first words Thomas spoke to his mother. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to have a frame house now," he cried. +</P> + +<P> +A moment later they were all inside the cabin together—mother, sons, +and daughters, and in the mother's lap lay a handful of gold, which +Thomas had placed there. James danced with excitement as he saw the +sparkling coins which his brother had earned. Never before had he seen +a gold coin, and he had hardly imagined that such a sum could be within +the reach of the humble workman. +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield looked at the little pile on her knee, and then at her +son, but she did not utter a single word. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you say something?" cried James in his excitement. +</P> + +<P> +Why? Because she was unable to do so. There are feelings too deep for +words, and times when we cannot give expression to the intense joys or +bitter sorrows that thrill or rend our hearts. +</P> + +<P> +The bitter sorrow she had experienced when her husband was struck down +in his early manhood; the intense joy now possessed her soul when she +saw this golden token of her eldest son's love and devotion. The gold +that was needed to provide a better house for her lay there, and no one +knew its value better than she did. But what were the golden coins to +the mother, compared with the pure, unselfish, loving spirit of her +son? She would not have exchanged that precious filial affection for +all the gold that was coined in royal mint. +</P> + +<P> +Relief came when at length the mother's tears fell on the shining +coins. Tears indeed! but tears of joy. Never was there a happier +woman in the world than was Widow Garfield at that moment. +</P> + +<P> +No time was lost in carrying out the work, for Thomas was eager to get +back again to earn more money while there was plenty of employment. +When he had arranged with Mr. Treat, the village carpenter, he made a +journey to Cleveland with James to obtain lime, nails, and windows. +</P> + +<P> +A few days after, the carpenter came, and, assisted by Thomas and +James, he set about his task. James had never seen a frame house +built, and he was as eager and curious to watch how the work was done +as he had been years before, when the shoemaker sat in the log cabin +and made him his first pair of shoes. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-055"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-055.jpg" ALT="The carpenter set about his task." BORDER="2" WIDTH="176" HEIGHT="293"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 400px"> +The carpenter set about his task. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +He not only watched every operation, but eagerly lent a hand where he +could. Hammer, chisel, and plane were in turn used as deftly as if he +had served an apprenticeship to the trade. He especially distinguished +himself in planing the boards ready for the carpenter, who declared +that James was equal to a trained workman. He did the work well and +quickly, and was so delighted with his success that he called it "fun." +</P> + +<P> +When the frame was ready, the neighbours came on an appointed day to +help to raise it and put it in position. This was a great day for Mrs. +Garfield, who received the congratulations of her neighbours, and +listened with motherly pride to the words of praise they bestowed upon +the son who had made this provision for his mother. Nailing on the +boards next gave James work thoroughly to his mind. Boys are always +fond of driving nails, and James was no exception to the rule. +</P> + +<P> +The new frame house was a great improvement on the log cabin. It +contained three rooms on the ground floor, and two above, and it was +altogether better finished and more comfortable than the ruder dwelling +had been. The building of the new house had been a most enjoyable time +to James, and it had also been a valuable experience to the observant +lad. He turned it over in his mind for several months, and then he +told his mother that he thought he might be able to earn some money by +working at the carpenter's trade. She said that he had quite enough to +do, but she was willing to let him try. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will try," said James, for he had long ago found out that there +was nothing like trying. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later he was in the carpenter's shop. The man gave him a +hearty welcome. When he heard the object of the lad's mission, he at +once said— +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be glad to give you a job. I like boys who want to help their +mothers. I don't like lazy boys, and I know there is not a lazy bone +in your body." +</P> + +<P> +James agreed to begin on the following day, and the carpenter gave him +a pile of boards to plane. He was to receive a halfpenny for each +board; and to his own delight, and the carpenter's astonishment, he +planed one hundred the first day, and received four shillings and +twopence. Once more was Mrs. Garfield struck dumb. Her feelings of +joy and thankfulness could not find expression in words. Was there +ever a mother so blessed with devoted sons? Silently the mother +clasped her boy in her arms, and in this way showed the love she could +not speak. +</P> + +<P> +James continued to spend as much time as he could spare from the farm +work in helping the carpenter, and then, when the winter school opened, +he once more gave all his attention to his studies. The day after the +school closed, the carpenter engaged him to assist in building a barn. +This gave him employment until farming began, and he was paid at the +rate of two shillings a day. +</P> + +<P> +When the work was done, he received four pounds, and what was worth +more, both to him and his worthy mother, the hearty commendation of his +employer, who said, as he gave him the money— +</P> + +<P> +"You have earned every penny of it." +</P> + +<P> +About this time James borrowed a copy of Robinson Crusoe, which he +eagerly devoured. It opened a new world to the lad's inquiring mind, +and awakened within him a strong desire to travel and see something of +the world. +</P> + +<P> +Two or three incidents of his youth may here be told, as they serve to +still further illustrate the different phases of his character. +</P> + +<P> +A friend invited him to make a short excursion to visit an acquaintance +on the Sunday. James at once refused. His friend pleaded that it was +the only day on which the visit could be made, but James would not be +persuaded. He said that it would be against his mother's wishes; +therefore, if he never went, he would not go on Sunday. +</P> + +<P> +One day he found the same friend throwing stones at the cat. James at +once stopped him, and spoke so earnestly against cruelty to animals +that the youth begged, pardon for his thoughtless conduct, and said +that he should ever afterwards befriend cats. In the school there was +a fatherless boy like himself, who had no older brother to stand up for +him. When James saw the bigger boys teasing the little fellow, he took +the boy's part, and compelled his tormentors to leave him in peace. +</P> + +<P> +The seasons followed each other in rapid succession, and with each came +the tasks which gave James the employment he so much enjoyed. The +farm, the carpenter's shop, and the school kept him busy, and at +fifteen he could do a day's work with any man in the district. +Studying geography and reading books of travel had, however, one effect +on his mind—they made him eager to see the places about which he had +read. When he spoke to his mother on the subject, she expressed a wish +for him to remain at home until a fitting opportunity came. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait for Providence," she said; and in the meantime James waited. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FAITHFUL WORK. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +A New Employment—At the Potash Works—Desire for a Seafaring Life—On +a Farm again. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +One day Farmer Smith called at Mrs. Garfield's house, to ask James to +help him in weeding the peppermint, adding at the same time, that he +had engaged twenty boys for this especial purpose. Mrs. Garfield said +that her son was at that time very busy, and she thought that the +farmer would have enough boys without him. +</P> + +<P> +The farmer replied that without James he should have altogether too +many. He had engaged them with the intention of getting James to lead +them, because of the wonderful influence he had over them. "James," +said the farmer, "is a fast worker, and all the time he so interests +the boys with stories, anecdotes, and fun, that they do their best to +keep up with him. I am quite willing," he continued, "to pay James +something extra, and I shall then be the gainer by engaging him." +</P> + +<P> +The farmer had employed James before at similar work, and therefore he +knew the value of such an active, cheerful servant. Once more he +agreed to take command of the weeders, and the work was again done to +the entire satisfaction of the shrewd farmer. The last job in which +James helped the carpenter was the building of a shed in connection +with a large potash factory. The owner of the works saw him, and +noticed how he gave his whole mind to the business in hand. As soon as +it was done, he was eager to employ the lad. +</P> + +<P> +When James received an offer of nearly three pounds a month from the +manufacturer, he was filled with surprise. It was nearly ten shillings +more than was usually paid. +</P> + +<P> +"I want just such a hand as you in my business," said the man; "and you +may come as soon as you like, and remain as long as you please." +</P> + +<P> +"I must first consult my mother," said James, "and if she consents, I +will begin work on Monday." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. Garfield was filled with fear when she heard of Mr. Barton's +offer. She said that the rate of wages was high, but the workmen who +were engaged in the factory were rough and coarse in their speech and +manner of life. James replied that he had no fear of being led away by +their bad example. He said that evils would meet him everywhere, and +that he was quite able to resist all temptation to do wrong. The wise +mother did not question the strength of his power to resist evil, but +she reminded him of the text, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take +heed lest he fall." +</P> + +<P> +Then, when she had sufficiently impressed upon his mind that there was +a real need for the utmost care, she gave her consent. Indeed, she +could hardly refuse when James reminded her that he was waiting for +Providence to open a door, and that if Providence had not opened this +door, he should never know when Providence did open one. +</P> + +<P> +James went to the factory on the following Monday morning, and was at +once set to keep the books of the establishment, and attend to the +buying and the selling of the potash. The manner in which he attended +to business caused Mr. Barton to place absolute confidence in him, and +to treat him with the utmost kindness. James was the first to enter +the factory in the morning, and the last to leave it at night. The men +who brought ashes for sale were not always honest, and they often +charged for more than they delivered. James, in measuring their loads, +soon found out that his master was being systematically robbed. He put +an end to such unprincipled conduct, and thereby still further +increased Mr. Barton's confidence in him. +</P> + +<P> +At the works, the men were, as his mother had described them to be, +rough in manner and very profane in their conversation. This gave +James so much pain, that he kindly but firmly pointed out the +wickedness as well as the uselessness of swearing; and though he was +told that it was no business of his to take notice of these things, his +presence was an influence for good over them. +</P> + +<P> +While living in Barton's house, he read a number of books on seafaring +life and the doings of famous pirates. They fired his imagination so +much, that he never tired of reading them, and he conceived a strong +desire to be a sailor. This desire became stronger every day, and when +Mr. Barton spoke to him about settling down to the potash business, +James told him he wanted to go to sea. The old man spoke strongly +against such a course, and told him that if he would stay in his +service, he might look forward to the time when he would have a factory +of his own. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-064"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-064.jpg" ALT="He never tired of reading." BORDER="2" WIDTH="281" HEIGHT="312"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 281px"> +He never tired of reading. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +James was not willing to give up his idea of going to sea, but he +remained for some months with his employer. One day, however, Mr. +Barton's daughter spoke of him as a hired servant, and this made James +so angry, that, in spite of the persuasions of his master, he left the +factory, and returned home on the following day. +</P> + +<P> +His mother was glad to see him back again, though she did not agree +with his hasty action in leaving without notice. James explained to +his mother that he had not taken offence at being called a hired +servant, but at the insulting manner in which the words were said. +Then he filled her heart with dread by expressing a wish to go to sea. +This was a severe blow to his mother, who told him that she could never +give her consent to that. She even told him to say no more about +taking such a step unless he wanted to make her unhappy. +</P> + +<P> +As a man had been engaged to do the work on Mrs. Garfield's farm, James +once more went away in search of a job. This time he was employed by +an uncle, who lived at Newburg, to chop wood. While there he lodged +with his sister Mehetabel, who had been married some time before. He +now worked within sight of Lake Erie, and his desire to be a sailor was +intensified when he saw the vessels sailing to and fro on the broad +expanse of water before him. At first he lost much time watching the +ships, but when he found that his work suffered, he gave it all his +attention. +</P> + +<P> +When he spoke to his sister about being a sailor, she replied as her +mother had done, and told him that he had better be anything than that. +He was too clever, she said, to throw away his abilities on board a +ship. +</P> + +<P> +When the work was done, James carried the money he had earned to his +mother, and then engaged to help a farmer who lived a few miles away. +The work was very hard, and the men were busy from early morning till +late at night. James, however, would not be beaten. +</P> + +<P> +"If I can't do as much as others do," he said, "I will give up the job." +</P> + +<P> +At the end of the season he received his wages, and the farmer said, as +he paid him, "You've done well." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROPE THAT SAVED HIM. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Driver of a Canal-boat Mule-team—Defence of the Eight—James +speaks out plainly—A Narrow Escape—A Severe Illness—The +Turning-point in James's Life. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When Mrs. Garfield found that James had become unsettled and restless, +she decided to give way, and allow him to obtain some experience of a +seafaring life. Finding that he had no definite plan in his mind, she +proposed that he should try a voyage on Lake Erie. +</P> + +<P> +This suggestion fell in with his wishes, and, once more taking his +bundle in his hand, he set out to seek his fortune. On foot he +journeyed to Cleveland, a distance of seventeen miles, and went on +board the first vessel he saw. There he inquired for the captain of +the schooner, whom he expected to be a gentleman. To his disgust, the +man who appeared was a drunken, swearing fellow, who, with a volley of +oaths, threatened to throw him into the dock if he did not at once +leave the vessel. +</P> + +<P> +No pleasant dream was ever more rudely dispelled than were James +Garfield's bright visions of the charm of a seafaring life. No such +wretch as the captain he had just met with had been described in any of +the books he had read, and he began to think that there must be a +mistake somewhere. At any rate, he had no present intention of giving +up the idea of being a sailor. While walking along the side of the +docks, he met his cousin, Amos Fletcher, who was the captain of a canal +boat, and to whom he related his recent experience. +</P> + +<P> +Amos offered him the post of driver, and James engaged to go with his +cousin to Pittsburg in that capacity. His work was to take turns with +another driver, and, for a certain number of hours, when his turn came, +to drive the two mules which drew the boat along the canal. +</P> + +<P> +The boatmen were profane, coarse, vulgar whisky-drinkers, "who regarded +rum and tobacco as among the chief necessaries of life." A greater +contrast there could not have been than that which existed between +James and the men among whom his lot was cast. +</P> + +<P> +The work required some experience, and the very first day the new +driver and his mules were thrown into the canal, while trying to pass +another boat. At once the other men ran to his assistance, and, when +James and his mules were placed safely on the towing-path, he had to +stand a considerable amount of good-humoured chaffing. +</P> + +<P> +Amos had been engaged in teaching before he became the captain of a +canal boat, and when he found how much James knew, he spoke very +seriously to him about his future prospects. His cousin told him that +with a little more education he would be well qualified to take charge +of a school, and strongly advised him to adopt this course. James now +remembered that not only his mother and sister, but every one to whom +he had spoken, had told him he was throwing himself away in seeking to +be a sailor, and therefore the words of his cousin had considerable +influence over him. He began to think that he had been guilty of +acting foolishly, and to waver in his purpose. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-069"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-069.jpg" ALT="On board the canal boat." BORDER="2" WIDTH="368" HEIGHT="551"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 368px"> +On board the canal boat. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +One day the boat came to a lock the same time as another boat, and the +crews of the two vessels were about to fight for the first turn, when +James spoke out boldly, and declared that the right belonged to the +other boat, and that it should precede them. The captain was so struck +with his cousin's manly defence of the right, that he ordered his men +to give way. A fight was prevented, and fair play was given to the +first comers. Some of the men in his own crew called him a coward, but +that had no effect on James. He had long ago settled in his own mind +that the greatest coward was the one who did not dare to do right. +</P> + +<P> +Not long afterwards James offended one of the men, who at once set upon +him. To save himself, James knocked the man down. All the men at once +called upon James to pitch into him while he was on the ground. But +James replied that he never struck a man when he was down. This was a +new idea to the men, who had called him a coward because he would not +fight for that which did not belong to him. Ever afterwards they +regarded him with respect. Even they, rough and brutal as they were, +could appreciate the generous spirit which prompted such noble actions. +</P> + +<P> +One of the boatmen, named Harry Brown, was a good-hearted fellow, who +took a great fancy to James. This man was, however, so very fond of +drink, that he was always getting into trouble. James tried to +persuade Harry to give up drinking, and the man listened willingly to +the kind advice which he found so hard to follow. When speaking of +James to one of the crew, Harry said, "Jim is a great fellow. I should +like to see what sort of a man he will make. The way he rakes me down +on whisky, tobacco, and swearing is a caution, and he does not say a +word that is not true. I like him, though. I always like a man to +show his colours." +</P> + +<P> +All through life it was the same. No matter where he was, or in what +circumstances he was placed, James Garfield always showed his colours, +and he was never afraid to nail them to the mast. +</P> + +<P> +Therefore the ignorant, drunken crew not only respected the lad who so +boldly reproved them, but boasted of the companionship of one so unlike +themselves. Said the steersman to the bowman of another boat, "We have +a fellow in our crew who never drinks, smokes, chews, swears, nor +fights; but he's a jolly good fellow, strong as a lion, could lick any +of us if he has a mind to, and a first-rate worker. I never saw such a +boy." Both captain and crew agreed that James was a peacemaker, and +that he carried out his purpose without making enemies. Thorough and +prompt in everything, and unwilling to be a party to any wrong-doing, +he was regarded as a model worthy of imitation by all who knew him. +</P> + +<P> +During the few months that he was on the canal boat, James fell into +the water fourteen times. The last time nearly cost him his life. It +was a dark and rainy night, and no one saw him jerked into the water. +The boat swept on, and just as he began to despair of receiving any +aid, his hand caught a rope in the darkness, and he drew himself into a +place of safety. He found that the rope that had served his purpose +had held fast by catching in a crevice on the edge of the deck. That +was all that had come between him and death. Never had James had such +serious thoughts in his mind as then, when he saw the rope and how it +had saved him. +</P> + +<P> +At once he thought of his praying mother, and the over-ruling +Providence in which she so firmly believed. And at that moment he made +up his mind to leave the canal boat, and return to his home. +</P> + +<P> +A few weeks afterwards, James was attacked by ague, and he decided to +go at once. It was eleven o'clock at night when he reached the house. +Looking through the window, he saw his mother by the light of the fire. +She was on her knees. Listening for a moment, he heard the words that +fell from her lips. She was praying for him. A moment later, mother +and son, once more reunited, were sobbing in each other's arms. Then +James told his mother all about his life on the canal, and how God had +preserved him almost by a miracle from drowning. After that he went to +bed, and next day was found to be so ill that he was laid up for +several weeks. +</P> + +<P> +During that period Mrs. Garfield often spoke to James about his future, +and he agreed with his mother, that if God saved his life on that +night, He must have saved him for something. Then she brought her son +under the influence of the teacher of their school, who was preparing +to be a minister, and he soon showed James that the difference between +a scholar and a sailor is the difference between somebody and nobody. +</P> + +<P> +James decided to continue his education. That was the turning-point in +his life. His mother knew that, having once said, "I will go to +school," he would keep his word, and from that time she was satisfied. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +STRIKING OUT A NEW LINE. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +James decides to attend a College—He obtains Employment whereby to pay +his Fees—Looking Upward. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +In the life of every strong youth there comes a time when the manhood +within him awakens to a consciousness of its proper powers. Such a +moment had come in the life of young Garfield. His best friends had +striven hard to awaken his slumbering ambition; even the companions of +the towpath and of the woodyard had spoken with regret of the apparent +waste of such abilities as he had shown; while his mother, who had been +the first to perceive his talents, never ceased to urge her boy to fit +himself for an honourable and useful calling. +</P> + +<P> +All this advice, however, seemed to be thrown away on the strong-willed +youth, until that moment when the Spirit of God laid hold of him. +Then, as if a lamp had been lit in the empty house, his whole nature +was transfigured. He was still the same sturdy, happy, self-reliant +lad; but he was also a youth with a purpose in life. He no longer +allowed passing fancies to rule his conduct, but, fixing his eye upon +one goal, he began splendidly to push his way towards the prize upon +which he had set his heart. +</P> + +<P> +With a natural shrewdness, he saw at once that a man without culture +and mental training could not climb high on the ladder of life. He saw +that knowledge was the one key which opened the door to power in +America, and with characteristic energy he set himself to seek that key. +</P> + +<P> +The story of Garfield's attempts to gain an education forms one of the +most romantic portions of his history. At first the height of his +ambition was to attend a little Western college called Geauga Seminary, +a school where about a hundred youths and maidens were gathered, under +the auspices of the Free-will Baptist denomination, at the town of +Chester in the State of Ohio. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield, accompanied by two cousins, arrived at Geauga Seminary on +March 5, 1849. It was perhaps the most important moment of his life, +when the big, awkward, ill-dressed boy crossed the threshold of that +humble college, and began to tread the path that was to lead straight +on to one of the highest places of dignity on earth. +</P> + +<P> +He and his companions hired a room, and with but a little in money, a +sack or two of provisions, some pots and pans, and an old school-book, +began their simple college course. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield's plans to make his money last as long as possible were +amazing. He began with about two pounds, his dear mother's savings, +but text-books and school fees had already reduced his tiny fortune. +</P> + +<P> +At first the lads did their own cooking, with indifferent success. +Next they tried to live on bread and milk, but found it insufficient. +Then Garfield discovered a local carpenter who had planks to plane, and +in his spare time he found employment with him. Thus, working at his +books in the daytime, and toiling at the bench at night, he plodded +along. And yet, though his struggles were long and trying, there was +no need for pity in the condition of the young student. +</P> + +<P> +Probably no conceivable circumstances would have better developed the +character of this backwoods scholar. His hardy limbs found real +pleasure in work, which kept his body braced and healthy, while the +active mind was exerting its great faculties in the keen pursuit of +knowledge. +</P> + +<P> +Some of the most interesting and instructive periods in the lives of +the greatest men, both in this country and in America, have been found +in just such conditions as these. Thoughtful English lads will never +tire of hearing about those men, who, starting at the lowest point of +mental knowledge and social opportunities, have yet contrived to fill +in their day a large space in the world of letters. Take for example +the stories of the three cobbler lads—Drew the historian, Cooper the +reformer, and Carey the missionary, who, each in his own way, proved +superior to poverty and all its attendant disadvantages, and rose, the +one from his bench to a professorship in the London University, the +other from a position equally lowly to a high place among the thinkers +and writers of his day; and the third, leaving his lapstone to take up +the pen of a translator, from cobbling boots in a back kitchen, went +out to be the great master missionary of his age. +</P> + +<P> +And just as in olden times God called His chief servants from the +farmstead and the sheep-run, so even still the men of might have been +those whose natures were made strong by youthful hardship and boyish +battles. +</P> + +<P> +The slave lad who became the Old World's greatest statesman, the +shepherd boy who became its noblest King, and the young farmer who +stood among its mightiest prophets, are but the types and forerunners +of the Luthers and Lincolns and Garfields of more modern days. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield, when once his eyes were opened, was quick enough to see that +no boy could possibly succeed in life while he remained in ignorance. +He said over and over again, "Mother, I must have an education"; and, +having made up his mind to this, he set himself to secure it in the +only possible way. +</P> + +<P> +No false pride hindered him, no difficulties drove him back. He knew +that he would have to begin at the bottom, and he knew also that he +would have to work his way, every inch of the long journey. +</P> + +<P> +One of his own wise sayings was this: "Poverty is uncomfortable, as I +can testify; but, nine times out of ten, the best thing that can happen +to a young man is to be tossed overboard, and compelled to sink or swim +for himself. In all my acquaintance, I never knew a man to be drowned +who was worth saving." No man illustrated his own words better than +James Garfield. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Labour is glory!—the flying cloud lightens;<BR> +Only the waving wing changes and brightens;<BR> +Idle hearts only the dark future frightens;<BR> +Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune."<BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TEACHING AND LEARNING. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +First Term at College—The Pleasure of real Success—James Garfield +meets his Wife—He applies for a Schoolmastership—A Generous Offer. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +It is sometimes said that education spoils lads for hard work. As a +teacher in after years, Garfield had often to argue this point with the +fathers of his pupils, who feared lest the college should unfit their +boys for the farm and the forest. But better than any argument was his +own example. +</P> + +<P> +His first duty on returning home from school was to build his mother a +new barn. "It spoils some boys to go to school," said his brother +Thomas at the beginning of the first vacation, but it had not spoiled +James Garfield. +</P> + +<P> +With his brother's help, he built the barn, and then set off to find +work among the neighbouring farmers. Haymaking occupied him for +several weeks, then a +</P> + +<P> +[Transcriber's note: pages 81 and 82 missing.] +</P> + +<P> +It was this moral courage which gave Garfield his great influence over +his companions all through life. And when, after his second term at +Geauga; he felt himself able to undertake the charge of one of the +winter schools, which were started for small settlers' children, it was +this quality, above all others, which made him a successful teacher. +</P> + +<P> +He finished his second term at the top of his class. His mental powers +were now thoroughly awakened, his mind was quick, his memory retentive, +and he soon out-distanced all competitors. Every evening during the +session he had found his way into the carpenter's shop, and with such +results, that he finished the term in good health, without debt, and +with nearly a pound in his pocket. +</P> + +<P> +Now he was resolved to try his hand at "keeping school." But at first +he had some difficulty in finding a school to keep. His youthful +appearance frightened the managers at one place; they did not want "a +boy to teach at their school." His second and third applications were +too late; the vacancies were filled up. At the next place he was even +more discouraged, for, said the manager, "We had one fellow from Geauga +Seminary, and he made such a botch of it, that we don't want another." +</P> + +<P> +As frequently happens, the opportunity came just when hope was lowest. +He reached home thoroughly discouraged with these repeated refusals, +and almost too hopeless to respond to his mother's kindly, cheerful +words. But there was a purpose in all this apparent failure. At his +own door lay the task which was to try the metal in the man, and it was +here that young Garfield was to prove the master spirit that was in him. +</P> + +<P> +At a place close by, called The Ledge, was a school without a teacher. +And next morning one of the members of the committee of management came +over to offer the post of master to young Garfield. +</P> + +<P> +James was eager enough to secure a school, yet he hesitated to accept +this offer. The Ledge was a district notorious for the roughness of +its inhabitants, and for the unruly character of its young people. +Besides, many of the youths in this school were old acquaintances of +Garfield, and the young teacher naturally shrank from undertaking such +a charge. +</P> + +<P> +After duly considering the matter, however, Garfield accepted the post. +His pupils were the sons and daughters of the neighbouring farmers, and +many of them were quite grown up. They worked on the farm in the +summer, and then attended school for a few months in the winter. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield, of course, knew well enough that while among such a class +there were a few like himself, anxious to get an education, a still +larger number were quite indifferent, and looked upon the school as a +place for unbridled fun. Two previous masters they had already driven +out, and the committee had experienced as much difficulty in procuring +a master, as Garfield had found in securing a school. +</P> + +<P> +James feared that his scholars, knowing so much of his early history, +would be likely to hold both his scholarship and his character somewhat +lightly. He found, however, that this acquaintance was really his best +recommendation. +</P> + +<P> +His manly, straightforward character had an attraction for them; his +skill and strength as an athlete, and his known courage, ensured him +the respect even of the most turbulent among his scholars. The lads +felt that their master was a boy who was making his way in life; they +knew that he was no mere bookworm, but one of themselves, only stronger +and abler. +</P> + +<P> +His shrewd native wit saved him from many a mistake. He was prudent +and firm, ready and resourceful, and his sharp tongue was a weapon they +feared even more than his heavy hand. His wildest scholars admired +him; while his sympathy with those pupils who, like himself, possessed +no advantages save such as could be gained by their own hands, endeared +him to the more thoughtful. +</P> + +<P> +Thus, when his first season as a teacher was ended, he returned home +with the reputation of one of the most successful common schoolmasters +in the country. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FINDING FRIENDS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Young Janitor at Hiram Institute—Personal Appearance at this +time—Teaching and Preaching—The Tailor of Troy—The Beginning of the +Civil War. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +James Garfield attended the Geauga Seminary three years in succession. +During his second and third vacations he acted as master in some of the +log-schools in his native county. +</P> + +<P> +Then, at the age of twenty, he went from teaching school to sweeping +the college floor at Hiram Institute. Here, besides gaining a +considerable step in his education, Garfield began to exercise his +gifts as a speaker. The debating society of his college found in him +its most fluent disputant, and the college became immensely proud of +the promising youth, whose reputation as a ready and effective speaker +was spreading far and wide. +</P> + +<P> +In two ways he found outlet and exercise for the more generous +instincts of his nature—in preaching the Gospel and in denouncing +slavery. Even as early as this, the great struggle that was fated to +bathe his nation in blood and fire was looming near, and the nobler +among the young men of the country were unconsciously preparing to play +their great parts in the awful civil war. +</P> + +<P> +On entering Hiram Institute, Garfield was too poor to pay the ordinary +fees. He had applied, therefore, for the post of janitor, and his +duties were to sweep the rooms and ring the bell. He held this office +for one year, and during the whole of that time it was said that never +once did his bell ring behind the time. +</P> + +<P> +From the humble position of janitor he was promoted at the end of the +session to the more honourable one of assistant tutor. It seemed as if +his experience was to be a continual example of the possibility, and +even the advantage in some respects, to a healthy lad, of combining +great success in study with great industry in manual labour. +</P> + +<P> +His pay as a teacher was little more than nominal, and it was still +necessary that he should work to live, therefore he engaged his +mornings and evenings, as at Geauga, to a local carpenter, and thus +supported himself. +</P> + +<P> +Such perseverance as this of course attracted the attention of both his +fellow-students and his professors. By the former he was voted "a +brick," by the latter he was mentally designated for a future professor +and principal of the Institute; while in the minds of both young men +and old there was a feeling, slowly shaping itself into a prophecy, +that such ability and courage and character could have but one end, and +that Garfield was destined to become President of the United States. +</P> + +<P> +When he entered the Geauga Seminary, it was probably with no +expectation of proceeding farther on the road of learning than the +limited resources of that little country college could carry him. His +success there had sent him on to the Hiram Institute, and now it was a +matter of course that he should go to a university and take his degree. +But once more the money difficulty faced him, and once more the +devotion of one of the best brothers in the world opened the way. +Thomas was doing fairly well as a farmer; he had saved a little money, +and this he offered as a loan to his brother. James accepted the loan +gladly; and, to secure his generous brother against loss in case of his +own death, he insured his life for one hundred pounds. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield had acquired none of the outward graces of fashionable young +men when he entered upon his career at Williams' University. He was +tall, big-limbed, and rather lanky. His garments were of the homeliest +manufacture, and his speech was somewhat broad and provincial. In +mental stature, however,—in scholarship and reading and judgment,—he +was a man, every inch of him. His fine face and magnificent head and +sparkling eyes gave promise of rare powers, and once more, and with +perfect ease, he took his place in the front rank of his +fellow-students. +</P> + +<P> +Here, as at each stage in his eventful life, young Garfield proved that +every person must decide for himself the amount of respect that is +really due to him from his companions. +</P> + +<P> +No one could have entered college with a more homely appearance than +Garfield. His rustic manners and still more rustic dress invited +criticism among the smart young men of his college, yet because he was +by nature a gentleman, he was treated from the first as such, by both +teachers and students alike. +</P> + +<P> +His vacations, as before, were spent in teaching, and his Sabbaths in +preaching. In this latter office he acquitted himself so well, that it +became quite an accepted opinion that he was to become a minister. +This was one mark of the high estimation in which he was held, but +there were others besides. The position of teacher in a high school, +at the handsome salary of two hundred and fifty pounds, was offered him +at this time. The offer, however, was declined, for the reason that it +would prevent him taking his degree, and thus interfere with his plans +in life. +</P> + +<P> +His ambition was a very noble one. He wished, he said, to take a +degree, to win, if possible, a name for scholarship; and then to go +back to the modest salary and the limited sphere of the Hiram +Institute, and thus help the humble college which had done so much for +him. +</P> + +<P> +Another illustration of the good name he had earned was shown in a +smaller, but still very practical way. His brother Thomas's resources +had unfortunately given out, and James was in urgent need of money to +buy a suit of clothes. Careless as he was about his personal +appearance, the state of his wardrobe had become a serious anxiety to +him. One day a tailor in Troy sent for him, took his measure, and +fitted him out, saying, "Go on with your education, and when you have +some money for which you have no other use, pay me." This was a little +matter in itself, but of great interest as showing the opinion which +his neighbours had formed of the young man. +</P> + +<P> +It was during his residence at Williams' that the country was thrown +into excitement by Preston Brooks' attack upon Charles Sumner. Sumner +had taken a prominent part in the growing desire of the Northern States +of America for the abolition of slavery. He was a Senator of the +United States, and a politician and orator of great influence. +</P> + +<P> +One day, as he sat writing at his desk in the Senate House, two men +came up to him. One of these, a Senator and a slaveholder from South +Carolina, of the name of Brooks, was armed with a heavy stick. This +ruffian attacked Sumner from behind, felled him with a blow, and then +beat him as he lay upon the floor, leaving him almost dead. For this +grievous offence a small fine was imposed upon Brooks, and the amount +was promptly paid by his admiring constituents. The bully then +resigned his seat, and was re-elected without opposition by the South +as its spokesman, leader, and law-maker. +</P> + +<P> +The news of this murderous attack spread like a flame through the land. +In every State in the South it found a ready response in the sullen +passions of the slave-owners, whose hatred for the Abolitionists it +exactly expressed. Throughout the North it raised a nobler sentiment, +and called forth a resolve that the system which placed millions of +human beings under the absolute power of such men as this Brooks must +be swept away. In both North and South that blow in the Senate House +at Washington fell like a spark among the stubble: it set the nation on +fire. +</P> + +<P> +Among others who denounced the shameful deed was young Garfield. The +students of his university called a public meeting to protest against +the crime, and Garfield was the principal speaker. His address more +than surprised his companions. All the passionate vehemence of his +mighty heart was awakened by this outrage, and all the slumbering +hatred which he had nursed since boyhood against the abominations of +slavery sprang to his lips. +</P> + +<P> +As his hot words swept over the audience, his fellow-students sat +amazed. Great as had been their belief in his powers, they had hardly +expected this, and they heard enough that night to convince them that +one of the mighty men of the earth was rising up amongst them; and they +went away from the meeting whispering, "We have heard great things +to-day." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIRST BLOW. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Garfield's Power as a Platform Speaker—A Candidate for the Senate—His +Election—Is Slavery right or wrong?—War inevitable—The Attack on +Fort Sumter—The Civil War begun. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Garfield was twenty-six when he left Williams' University. He entered +this college a raw student from a Western seminary; he left it a +distinguished scholar, a graduate with honours, and a popular lay +preacher and platform speaker. +</P> + +<P> +In spite of many flattering offers, he had remained true to the Western +Institute at Hiram. Before his return he was appointed teacher of +ancient languages and literature there, and to this office he came full +of enthusiasm. +</P> + +<P> +The salary was only one hundred and fifty pounds a year, less by +one-third than the sum offered him by the trustees of the high school +at Troy, but that made no difference to Garfield. He brought to the +duties of his profession a profound love for the school to which he +himself was so greatly indebted, and an ardent desire to help young +fellows as poor as himself. He found plenty of scope for his gifts, +and he taught with such success that in two years' time he was +appointed principal of the Institution. +</P> + +<P> +This was the height of his ambition. Around him were some three +hundred young people, sons and daughters of the great West, whose +mental and spiritual training was in his hands. He regarded it as a +sacred trust, and he solemnly devoted his life to the service of these +Western students. +</P> + +<P> +His ideal was a high one. The teacher, he felt, was a builder of the +nation, and he resolved that no work should leave his hands that was +ill planned or badly done. +</P> + +<P> +The memory of his own early struggles made him especially mindful of +the poorer scholars, and his keen eye was always on the look-out for +young men of promise. Perfectly free in his intercourse with the +students, the young principal maintained his influence by the nobility +of his character and the steadiness of his aim. His only wish was to +help his pupils. And they believed in him with a faith that in the +years to come transformed his classes into battalions on the field of +battle. +</P> + +<P> +The slavery question was still exercising the minds of all parties when +Garfield returned to Hiram. His power as a speaker made him an +important ally to the Abolitionist party in his country, and his fame +brought numberless demands for platform work. The Democratic party in +the States had unhappily identified itself with slavery. Its leaders +defended the system, its members voted in its favour; while the +Republicans led the way for its abolition. +</P> + +<P> +Soon after Garfield's return to Hiram, a well-known Democrat named Hart +visited the town, to deliver an address on slavery. It was a clever +speech, and made some impression, and the principal of the Institute +was urged by the Republicans to reply. After some hesitation, Garfield +did so. The answer was said to have been calmly given, but its grim +facts of slavery horrors, its awful pictures of slavery evils, were so +overwhelming, that his opponent was completely crushed. +</P> + +<P> +This triumph naturally raised the demand that a man of such abilities +should go into politics, and he was formally requested to become a +candidate for the State Legislature. For a long time he refused. The +interests of his school seemed so great, and his love for the work was +so strong, that for a while nothing could move him. +</P> + +<P> +In the year 1859, however, the appeals of his fellow-townsmen had grown +so urgent, that he reluctantly became a candidate for the Senate of the +State of Ohio. He had held back until the trustees of the Institute +and his fellow-teachers joined their entreaties with the townsmen, and +offered during his absence to do double duty in the school to release +him for the public service. Greatly touched by these generous offers, +Garfield at length consented, and was at once nominated a candidate to +the parliament of his native State. +</P> + +<P> +Though he had been slow to accept nomination, he did not hold back when +once the battle had begun, and some few who looked with doubt on his +youth and inexperience soon found that they had in their midst a bold +though prudent leader. He won the seat by a large majority, and +entered the Senate in the month of January 1860. +</P> + +<P> +The United States of America consisted then of thirty-eight States and +ten Territories. Each State is governed by its own parliament, which +consists of a House of Senate and a House of Representatives. The +whole of these States and Territories are again united under a Federal +Government, at the head of which is the President of the United States. +Each State sends to the Federal Government two Senators and from one to +thirty Representatives, according to its population. +</P> + +<P> +The State of Ohio, in whose Senate Garfield took his seat for the first +time, is considerably larger than Ireland, and contains a more numerous +population. It was organised into a State and admitted into the Union +in 1803. Its population then was less than fifty thousand. Twenty +years afterwards it had become ten times as great, and at the time of +Garfield's election to its Senate, numbered nearly two and a half +millions. Garfield had won his spurs as a politician in the discussion +of the slavery question, and very soon he was called to give practical +form to his opinions. For years there had been a conviction among many +of the people of the Northern States that slavery was wrong, that it +was a crime against man and a sin against God. The Southern States +where slavery existed defended the institution without shame and +without fear. They bitterly resented any discussion of the subject by +the North, and they took effectual means to suppress any adverse +opinions in the South. +</P> + +<P> +In the very year of Garfield's election, nearly a thousand white +persons in the slave States were robbed, whipped, imprisoned, tarred +and feathered, or murdered, on suspicion of sympathy with the slaves. +</P> + +<P> +New and bitter laws were passed in the Southern States against teaching +or helping the negroes; and in several States it was calmly proposed to +deprive the free blacks also of their liberty, to sell them back into +bondage in order to raise money for the support of the elementary +schools. In defiance of the laws of the Federal Government, the slave +trade also was reintroduced, and negroes stolen from the West Coast of +Africa were once more landed and sold into slavery. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-097"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-097.jpg" ALT="Negroes stolen from the west coast of Africa were sold into slavery." BORDER="2" WIDTH="372" HEIGHT="563"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 372px"> +Negroes stolen from the west coast of Africa were sold into slavery. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +This open and insolent growth of the spirit of slavery in the South was +slowly rousing the rest of the great nation from its slumber. +Statesmen had been silent too long, politicians and preachers had +apologised for the evil, and the people as a whole had given no sign, +until provoked by those flagrant attempts to carry the vile system into +those newer parts of the country called Territories, vast districts of +only partly occupied land which had not yet been erected into States. +</P> + +<P> +Then the controversy became sharp and bitter, and the men of the North +began to speak out. To the younger men especially was the system +hateful, and it was plain that in the free States a new generation had +risen up which was prepared to wash its hands of the curse of slavery. +Some of the Southern States, afterwards known as the Confederates, +formed themselves into an association, and threatened to withdraw from +the Federal Union; and civil war between the slave States and the free +was by the more thoughtful and far-seeing deemed inevitable. +</P> + +<P> +The young Senator Garfield was one of the first to realise the true +position of affairs. During his first year in the State Senate he had +made his mark, in the next he became by the mere force of his character +and the intensity of his feelings its leader. +</P> + +<P> +The President of the United States at the time was James Buchanan, a +Democrat and a friend of the slave-owners. He, with others in high +places, seemed bent on giving the South every opportunity to strengthen +itself against the North. +</P> + +<P> +In many of the Northern States, it was hoped by the timid that war +could be averted by passing laws which would please the South. But +Garfield knew better. He saw that war must come, and he urged his +friends to be prepared. One night he said to a fellow-Senator, Cox, +who shared his lodgings, "Cox, war is inevitable." +</P> + +<P> +"It is, as sure as you live," was the reply. +</P> + +<P> +Then said Garfield, "If it comes, you and I must fight; let us then +pledge our lives to our country in her hour of peril." And standing +there, these two men, grand types of the Young America which was rising +above the shame of its dark past, pledged themselves to fight for the +old flag and for human right. +</P> + +<P> +Abraham Lincoln succeeded Buchanan in the Presidency of the United +States, and the Confederates withdrew from the Union, and elected a +friend of the slave-owners, named Jefferson Davis, as their President. +Then the first blow was struck. At Charleston was a stronghold called +Fort Sumter, which commanded the bay and harbour. The fort was held by +Major Andersen for the Federal Government. The garrison was small, +consisting only of some seventy men, who were without provisions. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-103"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-103.jpg" ALT="The defense of Fort Sumter." BORDER="2" WIDTH="388" HEIGHT="549"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 388px"> +The defense of Fort Sumter. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +The Confederates demanded possession of the fort. Anderson held out +for a day or two, until the walls were beaten down about his ears, and +then surrendered the fortress to the rebels. This was the beginning of +war. +</P> + +<P> +The news of the victory was flashed through the land, and the nation +stood aghast, to find that the Great Rebellion had begun. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +DARK DAYS FOE THE UNION. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +President Lincoln's Appeal to the Country—Dark Days for the Northern +States—A Decisive Battle—Glorious News. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The question of slavery was the real cause of the American Civil War, +though in the first instance the object of the North was solely to save +the Union. Six of the slave States had withdrawn from the Union. They +had appointed as their President Jefferson Davis, and had attempted to +seize all the arms and forts within the border of the States. +</P> + +<P> +The ease with which Fort Sumter had fallen into their hands encouraged +them to believe that they could easily snap the bonds which held the +Union together. In the South the white population was supposed to be +far superior to their Northern neighbours in all the arts of war. +</P> + +<P> +Their position as slave-masters had bred in them an arrogant temper and +a reckless spirit. They were more practised at the rifle, better used +to horsemanship, and more familiar with field sports, than the men of +the North. And they fondly boasted that one Virginian could beat five +Yankees. +</P> + +<P> +Indeed, the Southern States were so confident of their strength, that +they did not really believe the North would fight; they might protest, +they said, but that would be all. +</P> + +<P> +But men who talked like this little understood the intense love of +country which burned in Northern hearts. The moment Fort Sumter fell, +Lincoln appealed to the country for seventy-five thousand soldiers, and +within three days nearly a hundred thousand men had volunteered. +</P> + +<P> +Then the war dragged slowly on for four long, weary years. +</P> + +<P> +At first the tide of battle ran full against the Federals. Their first +victory had encouraged the rebels. Then a battle of very much more +importance was fought close to a stream known as Bull's Run, and here +again the North was defeated. Then others joined the Confederates. +</P> + +<P> +Several of the most brilliant soldiers and commanders, such as Lee and +Jackson, were Virginians and slave-holders, and these of course threw +in their lot with the South, and for some time the North had no men of +equal capacity to set against them. Thus for months and almost years +it seemed as if the Confederates would succeed, and that the fetters of +the slave would be fixed more firmly than ever. +</P> + +<P> +But defeat and delay were in reality making leaders for the North. A +young engineer officer named M'Clellan was put in command at first. +His appointment appeared to be a fortunate one. He speedily organised +and placed in the field a splendid army, and it was fondly expected +that a few months with such troops as his would end the war. But +M'Clellan, though a brave soldier and an able man, was a +disappointment. Like the father of Frederick the Great, he was an +ideal drill-master, but an indifferent general. He was afraid to risk +his magnificent army, and while he dallied his foes snatched victory +after victory. +</P> + +<P> +Those were dark days for the Northern States, yet through the darkness +they did not falter. They felt that their cause was just, and they +were prepared to suffer and die for it. At the head of the State was +the great and noble Lincoln, whose calm and indomitable spirit was +unbroken under the heaviest disaster. +</P> + +<P> +On the first of July 1863, General Lee, who had invaded Pennsylvania +with an army of seventy thousand men, advanced upon the little town of +Gettysburg. Here he met and partially defeated the Federal troops +under General Meade. Meade had entrenched himself on the hill above +the town; but, though defeated, he was not dislodged. The second day a +further attack was made, and once more the Federals suffered heavy +losses. Part of their position was carried, and Lee believed that +another day would give him such a victory as would place the whole of +the Northern States with all their wealth at his feet. +</P> + +<P> +It was a terrible moment for the North. The fate of the Union and of +the nation depended on that battle; and when, at the close of the +second day's struggle, the news was flashed by telegraph through the +length and breadth of the land, that Meade was again defeated, a great +gloom and sorrow hung over the Northern States. At Washington, the +Government sat in terror. In hundreds of churches and thousands of +homes throughout the land, the wives and children of the soldiers spent +the night in prayer. +</P> + +<P> +At length the fateful day dawned, and the two armies met once more. +Under cover of the darkness, Meade had been quietly strengthening his +position, and when the sun rose over the camp, it was seen that once +more he was ready to face his hitherto victorious enemy. +</P> + +<P> +The battle began at noon. For some time the result was uncertain. +Then for a third time the Confederates began to make headway, and it is +said that some of Lee's generals actually congratulated him upon a +final victory. But the battle was not ended. +</P> + +<P> +The Federals had their backs to the wall, and the dogged determination +which is the strength and glory of the Yankee character showed itself +at last. +</P> + +<P> +Again and again the best troops of the Confederate army dashed up the +slope of the low hill, only to break against the stubborn bands of men +who could die but would not be defeated. And when at length the rebels +made one more terrible rush, they were met, hurled back, broken, +beaten, and scattered, and the battle was over. +</P> + +<P> +That night, the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of +American Independence, there went up a shout through the North and East +that must have reached to heaven. Just outside the town of Richmond, +in Virginia, was a huge prison. Here some hundreds of Northern +officers, prisoners of war, were held in captivity. They had heard of +the struggle going on at Gettysburg, and they knew how much depended on +that battle. +</P> + +<P> +When, after the first and second days' fighting, the news of the +Federal repulses reached them, their hearts sank. Eagerly yet +anxiously they waited for the morrow. No eye in that dreary building +was closed that night in sleep. The morning of the fourth day rose. +They waited in fear, and strange rumours reached them. Some one +brought word that their brethren were again defeated, and tears of +shame and sorrow ran down many a worn face. +</P> + +<P> +Then an aged negro approached the prison. He brought wonderful news, +and through the bars he conveyed tidings of the Federal victory. For a +moment the good news was scarcely believed. Next loud sobs were heard, +mingled with murmured praises; then suddenly from hundreds of lips +there rose this glorious battle-song of the North, for they felt, +though many a battle was to follow, that the Union was saved:— +</P> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC.<BR> +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,<BR> +He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;<BR> +He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">His Truth is marching on.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;<BR> +They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;<BR> +I have read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">His day is marching on.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel,<BR> +'As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;'<BR> +Let the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with His heel<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">Since God is marching on.</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,<BR> +With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me;<BR> +As He died to make man holy, let us die to make men free,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 5em">While God is marching on."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Ulysses S. Grant—Recruits from all Classes—Senator Garfield appointed +Colonel Of a Regiment—Asking for Guidance. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The Union was saved, but the struggle was not over. During the earlier +years of the war the strong men of the North had been slowly coming to +the front. One of these was a stubborn, silent soldier named Grant, +who, after an early training as a military cadet, and some experience +in the Mexican war, had settled down to a clerkship in a leather shop +in Illinois. +</P> + +<P> +When war broke out, Ulysses S. Grant recruited a regiment of Illinois +men, of which he was made commander, and then entered upon that +military career which at length ranked him among the two or three +greatest soldiers of the age, and finally placed him in the +presidential chair. +</P> + +<P> +To General Grant more than to any man belongs the honour of the triumph +of the Federal armies. But Grant was strong because of the innate +nobleness of the men he commanded, and the magnificent steadfastness of +the people who supported him. That support was given with a liberal +hand. Probably never since the days when the people of Israel stripped +themselves of their jewels to build the tabernacle, did a nation +contribute of their treasures so eagerly and whole-heartedly as the +American nation at this crisis. +</P> + +<P> +Private individuals subscribed vast sums of money, teachers of schools +voluntarily gave up a fixed proportion of their salary, churches and +societies made regular collections, farmers carried their produce into +the camps, and women devoted their skill to nursing the sick and +wounded. +</P> + +<P> +The highest honour that men could claim was to serve in the ranks of +the army; and rich and poor alike shouldered the musket and slept side +by side upon the field of battle. +</P> + +<P> +On one occasion the money which was needed for the pay of a New England +regiment was delayed, and it was feared that the families of the +soldiers, as well as the soldiers themselves, might in consequence be +placed in distress. Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing-machine, +who was serving as a private in the ranks, stepped forward, pulled out +his cheque-book, and wrote on the spot a cheque for 20,000 pounds, +which he handed to his colonel for the use of his comrades. +</P> + +<P> +The army was composed not only of the strongest, but also of the +noblest men of the nation. Ministers led their congregations into +battle. Teachers gathered their young men together, and went with them +to fight for the country; and among the first of these, James Garfield, +the young principal of the Hiram Institute, marched at the head of a +hundred students of his college, and with their help gained the +earliest victory of the Federal army. +</P> + +<P> +When Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln, as we have seen, appealed at once for +75,000 volunteers. The call, which was read in the various States, was +heard in the Senate of Ohio, of which Garfield was a member. The +moment that the President's message had been read, Garfield rose to his +feet, and moved that Ohio should contribute 20,000 men and about a +million of money to the war. The motion was received and passed with +the heartiest approval, and the young Senator was at once appointed to +serve in the new army. +</P> + +<P> +He raised two regiments, of one of which he was made colonel. This was +work in which he had had no previous experience; yet he soon proved +himself a master of the business. Commander, officers, and privates +were all alike, raw recruits; but Garfield soon drilled both himself +and his men into shape. +</P> + +<P> +As a skilled carpenter, he could handle a workman's tools. He made a +number of models and blocks, and with these he studied the art of war. +Then he taught his officers as he used to teach his classes; and so, by +sticking to his old principles of "thorough," he soon produced a +regiment second to none in the Northern army. Garfield's duty in the +first place was to help to keep the State of Kentucky out of the hands +of the Confederates. At Middle Creek on January 10th, and again on the +17th at Prestonburg, he defeated General Marshall. In his regiment he +had a number of his own Hiram boys, over whom he watched as an elder +brother. The affection of the young men for their friend and teacher +was unbounded, and with him to lead them there were few perils from +which they shrank. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield had not taken up the trade of a soldier for pleasure or for +personal ambition, but out of a stern sense of duty. Brave and +resolute as he was, he was still more remarkable for the genuine +kindness and even tenderness of his nature. Before going into the war, +he was deeply concerned for his mother and for his wife and child. If +his life were taken, there was no provision for these dear ones. The +night, therefore, he volunteered, he took his mother's Bible and sat +down to read, determined to let the voice of God speak to him on this +momentous matter. +</P> + +<P> +He had not long to wait. As he read and meditated, he could hear one +solemn voice speaking all the time in his heart, like the voice which +fell upon the ear of the Hebrew captain, bidding him go forward to +fight, as he said, for his country and for human right. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WINNING HIS SPURS. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +The Hiram Boys in Action—Terrible Odds—A Daring Deed—A Ride for +Life—Major-General Garfield. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The period of Garfield's active service in the army was a little over +two years; yet in that short time he rose from lieutenant-colonel to +major-general, and performed some deeds of valour that will never be +forgotten. Within three months of raising his regiment, he was +prepared to take the field, and the sphere of his operations was the +State of Kentucky. +</P> + +<P> +This large and important State, which lay on the borders of the +slave-holding districts, was by no means unanimous in favour of the +Union. General Marshall, with an army of 5000 Confederates, had taken +up a position in Eastern Kentucky; and Garfield, having reported +himself to General Buell at Louisville, was ordered to march against +the invaders. It was at Middle Creek where the two small opposing +armies met Garfield's forces numbered, all told, about 2600; the +Confederates were nearly double. Garfield found the enemy posted on +the double crest of a low hill, and he at once commenced his attack. +</P> + +<P> +The charge was led by the hundred Hiram students, who were ordered to +cross the stream and climb the opposite ridge, the intention being to +draw the enemy out of their ambuscade. But the slope of the hill was +swept with rebel bullets, and the Hiram boys had to seek shelter among +the trees. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-119"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-119.jpg" ALT="Garfield and his regiment going into action." BORDER="2" WIDTH="203" HEIGHT="561"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 203px"> +Garfield and his regiment going into action. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +While the young men held their position in the timber, a support of 500 +men came up, and the little brigade faced nearly 4000 muskets. Then +Colonel Moore and his loyal Kentuckians volunteered to carry the hill. +Standing on a rock in full sight of his men, and a conspicuous mark for +the Confederates' rifles, Garfield directed the fight. For a while it +seemed doubtful on which side victory should fall, until through the +trees the commander caught sight of a glancing banner, and with a shout +he announced that reinforcements had arrived. The enemy had seen it +also, and at once began a retreat, which soon became a scamper. +</P> + +<P> +For this brilliant little victory, the first that had fallen to the +Federal arms, Garfield was made a brigadier-general. He was now +thirty-one years of age, and had served in the army about four months. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield's force in Eastern Kentucky held the field, but they held it +starving. Their provisions were done, the roads were impassable, the +people unfriendly, and the river swollen and dangerous. But Garfield's +early experience as a canal boy now stood him in good stead. Among his +troops was his old companion and humble friend of the towpath, Harry S. +Brown, the poor fellow who, in spite of a good heart and shrewd sense, +had been so long the unhappy victim of intemperance. But the man +adored his young officer, and now, at a critical moment in Garfield's +career, Brown was able to render him and the good cause an important +service. +</P> + +<P> +The army was encamped near the scene of its victory. Close by was the +Big Sandy river, a deep and rapid and swollen stream. No local boatman +would venture down the torrent at such a time. And yet that was the +sole direction from which the little army might expect supplies. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield sent for Harry Brown, who had been acting as scout. The two +sprang into a skiff, and succeeded in descending the river. At +Catletsburg, on the mouth of the Big Sandy, they found a little +old-fashioned steamer belonging to a Confederate, and of this vessel +they took possession. The steamer was loaded with provisions, and +Garfield assumed command. It was in vain that the rebel captain +protested, and explained the terrors of the passage. He had to do with +a man whose spirit of duty completely lifted him above the sense of +fear. +</P> + +<P> +For two days and nights Garfield stood at the helm of the vessel, and +battled with the swollen torrent. More than once they were aground, +but the resolute management of Garfield and the unflinching obedience +of Harry the scout surmounted every difficulty, and at length the +little steamer came puffing in sight of the almost despairing camp. +</P> + +<P> +The men were beside themselves with joy; they shouted and sang and +danced, and declared that with such a leader there was no danger they +would not face. +</P> + +<P> +But it was at the battle of Chickamauga that Garfield's most daring +feat was performed. In the early part of 1863 he was made chief of the +staff to General Rosecrans, and in this capacity organised his famous +corps of scouts. The summer and autumn were spent in opposing General +Bragg, one of the ablest of the Southern commanders. On the 19th and +20th of September the battle of Chickamauga was fought. The right +division of the army, under the immediate direction of Rosecrans, was +cut in two by Bragg. As the Federals began their retreat, Garfield, +who chafed bitterly under this repulse, begged permission to ride back +to the second column of the army, which was under the command of +General Thomas. He hoped to reach this division, and encourage the +general to continue the battle until Rosecrans could collect his broken +forces and entrench himself in Chattanooga. +</P> + +<P> +Great as was the need, Rosecrans hesitated before allowing Garfield to +run the risk of such a ride. At length he reluctantly consented. +Grasping Garfield's hand, his chief said, "We may not meet again. +Good-bye; God bless you." And, with this kindly farewell in his ears, +the young brigadier-general rode away. +</P> + +<P> +With three companions for guides, he made for the tangled forest. Then +they trotted past Rossville. Here, as they swept along the narrow +road, a thousand rifles opened fire upon them, and two of the little +party fell. They had ridden into a body of Confederate skirmishers who +were hanging upon the flank of Thomas's army. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield put his horse to the fence and leaped into a cottonfield. The +hedge on the other side of the field was lined with muskets. Garfield +rode a zig-zag course across the field, and so prevented the enemy from +taking aim. His course slanted upwards, and he knew that if he could +but gain the top of the hill, he would be out of range of the rebel +rifles. Twice a volley was fired, and the second time his horse +received a nasty flesh wound; but still Garfield was uninjured. His +good horse, though losing blood fast, kept on. He had reached the +crest of the hill just as the second volley of bullets whizzed past +him, and the next moment he was safe. A party of Thomas's troops rode +out to meet him, they dashed down the hill together, and in a few more +minutes Garfield's horse dropped dead at the feet of General Thomas. +</P> + +<P> +But the object of his ride was accomplished. Thomas held out long +enough to enable Rosecrans to strengthen himself and occupy +Chattanooga, and the army was saved. The stand which General Thomas +made at Chickamauga was said to be the most brilliant defence of the +whole war, and the ride of Garfield the most heroic deed. For this +exploit he was raised to the rank of major-general. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XVIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +FILLING THE GAP. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Called to Washington—Elected to the Congress—His Plan for increasing +the Army—The Slaves' Friend—Abraham Lincoln shot—Stilling the Tumult. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +After the battle of Chickamauga, General Garfield retired from the +army. His help was greatly needed in a sphere where the same courage +would find scope, but where other gifts besides decision and dash were +required. +</P> + +<P> +He had been a State Senator for Ohio for several years. Now he was to +become a Member of Congress, the national Parliament of the United +States. +</P> + +<P> +He was elected a representative of Congress in 1862, but did not +immediately take his seat. So far, his place seemed with the army; but +when, in 1863, immediately after the battle of Chickamauga, he went +with despatches to Washington, President Lincoln expressed a strong +desire that he should remain, and help to guide the affairs of the war +in the national Parliament. Such help as his was needed. Lincoln was +beset by timid and divided, and in some cases interested, advisers, and +the presence of a strong, fearless counsellor, as wise and experienced +as Garfield, was a great accession of strength. +</P> + +<P> +Here his moral courage was soon put to the test. More soldiers were +urgently required, and two plans were laid before the country. One was +to offer a bounty to volunteers; the other plan was to pass a law +requiring every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and +forty-five to be enrolled. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield's party favoured the former plan. Garfield himself approved +the latter. He said that, in such times as these, only the most +worthless men would want to be bought, the best would feel it a duty to +serve their country, and his vote was given in favour of compulsory +enlistment. It was a step that required courage, for it placed him in +opposition to the whole of his friends and supporters. But he said, "I +must vote according to conscience. My constituents may refuse to elect +me again, but for fear of that, I cannot trample on my convictions." +By his eloquence he was able to carry the law calling out half a +million of men, and it was not long before he convinced the whole +country, as he had convinced Congress, of the wisdom of his advice. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield had long ago discovered that it was almost as dangerous to +refuse his friends as to oppose his foes. But the straight and simple +line he had marked out for himself was his sufficient guide. There was +one man, he used to say, from whose company he could never escape. He +must eat, walk, work, and sleep with him; and no matter whom he +disappointed besides, he was bound to gain and keep the respect of that +one individual, who was himself. It was a wholesome saying, and it +expressed the principles which guided all his public life. +</P> + +<P> +While the war lasted, no man more resolutely opposed any kind of +concession to the rebels; but when it was ended, he was foremost in his +attempts to soothe the passions which the war had enkindled. +</P> + +<P> +From one point, however, he never flinched; that was in the treatment +of the negroes. He had begun his career as their advocate, he +continued it as their protector and friend. When an officer on +service, he had risked his position, and even his life, by refusing to +surrender a poor fugitive slave who had sought shelter in his camp, +although ordered to do so by his superior officer. And when, at the +close of the war, a bill was brought before Congress to limit the +rights of the freed slaves, Garfield indignantly and successfully +opposed it. +</P> + +<P> +On the 14th of April 1865, just after being elected to the Presidency +for the second time, Abraham Lincoln was shot by a rebel sympathiser, +named Booth. And the same night the life of the Secretary of State, +Seward, was also attempted. These crimes roused the people of the +North to madness. In every city the men assembled with ominous cries +for vengeance. +</P> + +<P> +In New York, a foolish man called out that Lincoln ought to have been +shot long ago. That cruel speech cost the speaker his life. He was +struck down by a hundred hands. Then a vast crowd gathered in front of +the <I>World</I> newspaper office, which was a supporter of the rebels. It +was a crisis when a single spark might kindle a fire that only could be +put out by bloodshed. At that moment a man stepped out upon the +balcony of the City Hall,—a tall, portly man, whose mighty voice was +heard above the tumult of the crowd of angry men. There was stillness, +and then, solemnly and slowly, the voice cried, +"Fellow-citizens,—Clouds and darkness are round Him! His pavilion is +on the dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies! Justice and +judgment are the habitation of His throne! Mercy and truth shall go +before His face! Fellow-citizens, God reigns, and the Government at +Washington still lives!" As the angry waves of Galilee were hushed at +the sound of the voice of Christ, so did the surging passion of that +great multitude grow still at the words of His servant that day. Men +ceased from cries of vengeance, and turned to Him who "had made His +throne in the heavens," and bowed their hearts before Him. +</P> + +<P> +The voice which swayed and stilled the crowd that day was the voice of +Garfield; he it was who, in that dreadful moment, stood in the gap +between the living and the dead. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOUR AND THE MAN. +</H3> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +Statesman and Citizen—Leader of the House of Representatives—Elected +President—The Secret of Success—Struck down by an Assassin—Hovering +between Life and Death—Death and Burial. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Garfield's life, above that of most men, was given to the world as a +splendid example of perfect integrity and manly independence. All +through that romantic career this had been its most remarkable feature. +His talents were great, his powers of endurance were great, his energy +and courage were great; but his love of right was greater and grander +than all. +</P> + +<P> +From that moment when he awoke to a true sense of his responsibilities +as a servant of God, he began to fit himself for all the duties of man. +For whatever duty claimed his service he was found prepared; and when +the call came suddenly to the kingly seat, and then yet more swiftly to +the martyr's crown, he was still found ready. Dividing his time +between Congress at Washington and his little home farm at Mentor, he +served his nation as a statesman, and ruled his happy household as a +citizen. +</P> + +<P> +His noble mother, by whose godly counsel he had walked, spent some +happy years in his home; while his brave and loving wife cheered and +helped and inspired him in those days of patient service. +</P> + +<P> +Gradually he gained the position of Leader of the House of +Representatives. In 1879 he was elected Senator of the United States; +and then, quite unexpectedly, in the following year he was lifted into +the highest place of all. +</P> + +<P> +The President of the United States is elected every four years. In +each State a number of persons known as "electors" are chosen by the +votes of the people. The number of these electors is exactly the same +as the number of the Representatives of each State. These persons then +meet and elect the President and Vice-President for the ensuing four +years. The great and dignified office of President is the summit of an +American's ambition; and it is only in the United States that a poor +lad may hope and believe it possible for him to climb from the humblest +position to a rank which places him on an equality with kings. +</P> + +<P> +Long before the time for election, the great parties in the State +select their candidates for this high office. Garfield belonged to the +Republican party, and the people chiefly opposed to him were called +Democrats. Previous to the Presidential election, the leading men of +the party met in a vast hall at Chicago to decide upon a candidate. +Several names were proposed, but it was found at first impossible to +select one man upon whom all the delegates of the Republican party +could agree. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-133"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-133.jpg" ALT="Mrs. James Garfield." BORDER="2" WIDTH="397" HEIGHT="516"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 397px"> +Mrs. James Garfield. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +Thirty-five times a ballot had been taken, and they seemed no nearer +than before. But at the thirty-fifth it was found that one name had +received about fifty votes. When that name was read, it was greeted +with a mighty cheer, which grew louder and louder, until the whole of +the vast building resounded with the name of James A. Garfield. +Another ballot was taken, and Garfield was found to be the chosen of +his party. +</P> + +<P> +He was nominated as the Republican candidate; and on November 2, 1880, +the "little sapling" of the Western Reserve became the President of the +United States, the uncrowned monarch of one of the greatest nations of +the world. Thus had he marched along. At fourteen he was working at +the carpenter's bench; at sixteen he was a canal boatman; two years +later he entered the Chester school; at twenty-one he was a common +school teacher. +</P> + +<P> +Then in his twenty-third year he entered the university, graduating +three years afterwards. At twenty-seven he became principal of the +Hiram Institute. The next year he was a Member of the Ohio Senate. At +thirty-one he was at the head of a regiment; at thirty-two, a +major-general; at thirty-three, a Member of Congress; at forty-eight he +was made a Member of the National Senate; and at fifty he became +President of the United States. +</P> + +<P> +We have said that the secret of Garfield's success was his integrity. +To this he owed the respect which advanced him to each position of +trust until it made him head of the Government. And it was to this +noble quality of his character that he owed his death. Corruption had +grown up in connection with the offices of State, and Garfield's last +mission was to purge the Government of this taint. He was resolved to +set his face against "the waste of time and the obstruction to public +business caused by the greedy crowd of office-seekers." And he also +announced that "rigid honesty and faithful service would be required +from every officer of the State." +</P> + +<P> +This conduct bitterly annoyed some of his own party, who had expected +that Garfield would follow the example of other Presidents, and turn +out all the civic officers, to make room for his own friends. This +annoyance at length found expression in the wicked act of a wretched +creature, a disappointed office-seeker, named Guiteau. +</P> + +<P> +The new President had been but a few months in office, when Guiteau +followed him into the railway station at Washington, and, as he entered +the waiting-room, shot him in the back. The President fell wounded, +but not unconscious. In great pain, he still remembered his loved +ones, and moaned, "My poor wife and children." Then he dictated a +message to his wife. +</P> + +<P> +A struggle with death ensued, on which the whole world looked with awe. +</P> + +<P> +For weeks the President hovered between life and death, showing ever +the same sublime spirit of cheerful patience and Christian resignation +which had adorned his life. At length the end came, and on the 19th of +September 1881 he fell asleep. His body was removed to Washington, +where he was laid in state. On the bier a wreath of white roses +rested, bearing the simple inscription—"From Queen Victoria to the +memory of the late President Garfield, an expression of her sorrow, and +her sympathy with Mrs. Garfield and the American nation." +</P> + +<P> +Through that room passed a hundred and thirty thousand persons of all +ranks, to take one last look at the man whose life had been so great, +and whose dying had been so glorious. Then in the cemetery of his +native Cleveland, James A. Garfield was laid to rest. +</P> + +<P> +The spontaneous affection of his countrymen amply provided for his +beloved family; and his martyrdom, it was said, did more than any other +event could have done to draw the North and South together. His death +was mourned, and the manner of it hated by every section and party +alike, and the whole nation, united now in sorrow, bowed in loving +tenderness over the grave of one of its greatest children. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +LOOKING BACK. +</H3> + +<P> +One of the pleasantest things in the story of Garfield is the devotion +of friends and companions, which followed and helped him all his life. +To an orphan lad, the son of a poor widow in the backwoods of the State +of Ohio, there seemed little chance of greatness; and yet out of that +poor cabin in the woods, in which sat the weeping mother and her four +fatherless children, came one who was destined to stand among princes. +</P> + +<P> +It was the self-denial of his mother, elder brother, and sister which +made it possible for James Garfield to rise. When the father died +suddenly, leaving his family on the comparatively new clearing, Thomas, +the eldest son, became the manager of the farm. "I can plough and +plant, mother. I can sow the wheat too, and cut the wood, milk the +cows, and do heaps of things for you." +</P> + +<A NAME="img-139"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG CLASS="imgcenter" SRC="images/img-139.jpg" ALT="The White House." BORDER="2" WIDTH="566" HEIGHT="388"> +<H3 CLASS="h3center" STYLE="width: 566px"> +The White House. +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<P> +This was the elder lad's answer to his mother's question, "Should they +sell the farm now that her husband was dead?" and it decided her. And +so the boy-farmer commenced his labours, and mother and children toiled +together in humble and happy love. +</P> + +<P> +But though Thomas was compelled to work, he was determined that his +baby brother should have an education. And when a school was opened +some distance off, he resolved that "Jimmy" must be one of the +scholars. But how was a lad of four to get to school nearly two miles +away. The answer came from a devoted sister, who said, "I'll carry +him"; and the good, brave girl, with a homely name and a noble heart, +trudged the long distance day by day, with a little sister at her side, +and a little brother on her back. And that was how, aided by loving +hands and loyal hearts, little James Garfield, the future professor, +and general, and President of the United States, began his career. +</P> + +<P> +You remember how Thomas, with all his duties and responsibilities about +the farm, yet found a little time on his hands to do odd jobs for a +neighbour, and so obtain a little money. +</P> + +<P> +When he came home with his first earnings, he walked straight up to his +mother, laid it down in her lap, and said, "Now the shoemaker can come +and make Jimmy a pair of shoes." What a splendid fellow Thomas was! +He seemed to have no thought for himself, but only to be wearing out +his young life for others. Surely in the long hereafter, when they +reckon up the good deeds in each life, the reaping of this little +backwoods' farmer will be a glorious one, for he sowed a mighty harvest +of love. +</P> + +<P> +One story of this dear brother should never be forgotten. His brother +James slept on the floor of the loft beside him, and the restless +little fellow would kick off the blankets a dozen times in a night. +Then, half awake, he would say, "Tom, cover me up"; and the patient +hand, that never tired of helping others, would replace the clothing, +and the little head would sink down again on its hard pillow. +</P> + +<P> +Five-and-twenty years afterwards, when at the head of an army, and +after a great battle, he lay down on the battlefield to sleep. An +officer heard him say, "Tom, cover me up." A friendly hand drew the +blanket over his shoulder, and awoke him by the act. On being told of +his saying, General Garfield sat a moment silent, then he told his +comrades how he had been helped at home, and all through life; and as +he spoke of this brother's love, his heart grew too full, and he turned +aside and wept. +</P> + +<P> +Surely if there is one lesson more than another to learn from the story +of this splendid life, it is to be found in the sacrifice of this elder +brother, who, like Jonathan of old, stepped aside and lent a hand that +another should climb over his head. +</P> + +<P> +Garfield was like David. His was the magnetic soul that drew all men +to him, and then drew forth the best and brightest impulses of their +natures. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="finis"> +THE END. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Garfield, by William G. 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Rutherford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Story of Garfield + Farm-boy, Soldier, and President + +Author: William G. Rutherford + +Release Date: May 27, 2007 [EBook #21621] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF GARFIELD *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: Portrait of James Garfield (missing from book)] + + + + + + +THE STORY OF GARFIELD + +_FARM-BOY, SOLDIER, AND PRESIDENT_ + + + +By WILLIAM G. RUTHERFORD + +_TWENTY-NINTH THOUSAND_ + + + + +LONDON: + +THE SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION + +57 AND 59 LUDGATE HILL, E.C. + +1895 + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. + + I. THE FAR WEST + II. THE PIONEERS + III. A FIRE IN THE FOREST + IV. THE FOUR SAPLINGS + V. A RESTLESS SCHOLAR + VI. MAN-MAKING + VII. THE TWO BROTHERS + VIII. HOUSE-BUILDING + IX. FAITHFUL WORK + X. THE ROPE THAT SAVED HIM + XI. STRIKING OUT A NEW LINE + XII. TEACHING AND LEARNING + XIII. FINDING FRIENDS + XIV. THE FIRST BLOW + XV. DARK DAYS FOR THE UNION + XVI. FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY + XVII. WINNING HIS SPURS + XVIII. FILLING THE GAP + XIX. THE HOUR AND THE MAN + XX. LOOKING BACK + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + +PORTRAIT OF JAMES GARFIELD (missing) . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + +THE TREES FELL BEFORE HIS AXE + +TOM BORROWED A HORSE + +SHE DRIED HER TEARS AND ASKED GOD TO SUPPORT HER + +AN AMERICAN FARMSTEAD + +THE CARPENTER SET ABOUT HIS TASK + +HE NEVER TIRED OF READING + +ON BOARD THE CANAL BOAT + +NEGROES STOLEN FROM THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA WERE + SOLD INTO SLAVERY + +THE DEFENCE OF FORT SUMTER + +GARFIELD AND HIS REGIMENT GOING INTO ACTION + +MRS. JAMES GARFIELD + +THE WHITE HOUSE + + + + +THE STORY OF GARFIELD. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FAR WEST. + +The United States Sixty Years ago--The "Queen City" of the West--The +Rush for New Lands--Marvellous Growth of American Cities. + + +Go to Liverpool or Glasgow, and embark on one of the great ocean +steamers, which are constantly crossing the Atlantic. Sail westwards +for about a week, and you will reach the eastern shores of the New +World. + +If you land at New York, you will find yourself in one of the largest +cities on the face of the globe. You will also find the country +largely peopled by the same race as yourself, and everywhere you will +be addressed in your own language. You may travel for weeks from town +to town, and from city to city, until you are lost in wonder at the +vast and populous empire which English-speaking people have founded and +built up on the other side of the Atlantic. + +Where is the New World of fancy and fiction so graphically described in +Indian stories and tales of backwoods life? And where are the vast +prairies and almost boundless forests of sober fact, where the bear, +the wolf, and the buffalo roamed at will--the famous hunting-grounds of +the Red Indians and the trappers of the Old World? + +Where is the "Far West" of song and story? Where are the scenes of +Fenimore Cooper's charming descriptions, which have thrown a halo of +romance over the homes of the early settlers who first explored those +unknown regions? + +For the most part they are gone for ever, as they appeared to the eyes +of the pioneers and pathfinders, who wandered for weeks through the +wilderness, without hearing the sound of any human voice but their own. +Now on forest and prairie land stand great cities, equal in population +and wealth to many famous places, which were grey with age before the +New World was discovered. The trading posts, once scattered over a +wide region, where Indians and white hunters met to barter the skins of +animals for fire-water and gunpowder, have disappeared before the +advances of civilisation, and the uninhabited wilderness of fifty years +ago has become the centre of busy industries of world-wide fame and +importance. + +Sixty years ago, fifteen of the largest cities in the United States had +no existence. They were not born. Living men remember when they were +first staked out on the unbroken prairie, and the woodsman's axe was +busy clearing the ground for the log huts of the first settlers who +founded the cities of to-day. + +At that period, Chicago, now a "Millionaire city," and the second in +America, consisted of a little fort and a few log huts. There was +scarcely a white woman in the settlement, and no roads had been +constructed. The ground on which the great city now stands could have +been bought for the sum now demanded for a few square feet in one of +its busy streets. + +No wonder the American people are proud of "the Queen City of the +West." It stands far inland, a thousand miles from the ocean, and yet +it is an important port on the shores of Lake Michigan, and steamers +from London can land their cargoes at its quays. More than twenty +thousand vessels enter and leave the port in one year. It is the +greatest grain and provision market in the world. + +It may with truth be said that in America cities rise up almost in a +night-time. The forest and the prairie are one day out of the reach of +civilisation, and the next they are one with the throbbing centres of +life and progress. The railway, the means of communication, changes +all as by a wizard's touch. + +One day the news spread through a certain district, that two lines of +railway were to cross at a certain point in the wilderness. Settlers +at once crowded to the place, and next day the land was staked out in +town lots, with all the details of streets, squares, and market-place. +Soon afterwards, shanties were seen on the prairies, moving with all +speed, on rollers, towards the new town. On the second day a number of +houses were under construction, while the owners camped near by in +tents. In a few months hundreds of dwellings had been erected, and a +newspaper established to chronicle the doings of the inhabitants. + +"The old nations of the earth creep on at snail's pace: the Republic +thunders past with the rush of an express," says a recent American +writer. "Think of it!" he continues; "a Great Britain and Ireland +called forth from the wilderness, as if by magic, in less than the span +of a man's few days upon earth." + +This marvellous growth and rapid change from wilderness to cultivation +must be known and understood by readers on this side of the Atlantic, +they can appreciate the story of a Lincoln or a Garfield who began life +in a log hut in a backwoods settlement in the Far West, and made their +way to the White House, the residence of the ruler of an empire as +large as the whole of Europe. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE PIONEERS. + +A New England Village--Hardships of Emigrants--The Widow Ballou and her +Daughter Eliza--The Humble Dwelling of Abram Garfield--The Garfields +and the Boyntons--The Removal to a New Home--The Wonderful Baby-Boy. + + +The early settlers from the Old World first peopled the eastern shores +of the Atlantic, and founded the New England States, New York State, +and the whole seaboard from Maine to Florida. + +A New England village was a collection of log houses on the edge of a +deep forest. Snow drifted into the room through the cracks in the +walls, and the howling of wolves made night hideous around them. The +children were taught in log schoolhouses, and the people worshipped in +log churches. + +Savage Indians kept the settlers in a state of continual fear. +Sometimes they would suddenly surround a solitary house, kill all the +inmates, and set fire to the dwelling. Again and again have the +children been aroused from their sleep by the fearful Indian war-whoop, +which was more dreaded than the howling of the wolves. Even women +learned to use guns and other weapons, that they might be able to +defend their homes from these savage assaults. + +The log house villages grew into populous places, and the descendants +of the "Pilgrims" were not always satisfied to remain in the cities +founded by their forefathers. Wonderful stories were told in the towns +of the amazing fruitfulness of the forest and prairie land out West, +which induced large numbers to sell their property and set out on the +tedious and adventurous journey. + +Before the great lines of railway were constructed, which now stretch +across the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific, +there was a constant stream of emigration from the East to the West. +Large waggons carried the women and children, and the stores of +necessary articles, which must be conveyed at all cost, for they could +not be obtained in the localities to which the pioneers bent their +steps. + +Slowly the emigrant trains made their way through roadless regions. +They had to ford rivers, wade through swamps, and cut paths through +thick forests. Weeks, and even months, were spent on journeys which +are now accomplished in less than twenty-four hours. + +Numerous difficulties and manifold dangers beset the wanderers' path; +yet, regardless of both, they pushed on with infinite courage and +patience. Nor was the journey through the wilds without a tinge of +romance to the younger and more adventurous spirits, who enjoyed the +freedom they could not have in the towns and cities. + +About eighty years ago, a widow and her family--a son and a +daughter--packed up all their worldly possessions in an emigrant +waggon, and started for the West. Widow Ballou made her home in the +State of Ohio, which at that time was only peopled by a few scattered +settlers. Five years afterwards, a young man named Abram Garfield +started on the same journey. It is said that he was more anxious to +renew his acquaintance with the Ballou family than to make his fortune. +The widow's daughter Eliza was the attraction that drew him into the +Western wilds. + +On the third of February 1821, Abram Garfield and Eliza Ballou became +man and wife, and their first home was a log cabin, which the young +husband erected at Newburg, near Cleveland. It was an isolated spot, +for Cleveland, the larger place, then consisted of a few log cabins, +containing a population of about one hundred persons. + +The humble dwelling of Abram Garfield and his young wife had but one +large room. The three windows were of greased paper, a substitute for +glass, and the furniture was home made and of the rudest description. +Wood was the chief material used. There were wooden stools, a wooden +bed, and wooden plates and dishes. A frying-pan, an iron pot, and a +kettle, made up the list of utensils which were absolutely necessary. + +Nine years passed away, during which the young couple were very happy +in each other's love, and three children were added to their little +family circle. Abram worked on the land, and was for a time employed +in the construction of the Ohio and Pennsylvanian Canal. To provide +for his growing family, the young husband then bought fifty acres of +land, a few miles away from his first home. At the same time, Amos +Boynton, who had married Mrs. Garfield's sister, also bought a tract of +land in the same locality. + +The two families removed to the new scene of their labours at the same +time, and lived together in one log cabin, until they had erected a +second dwelling. When this was done, the Garfields and the Boyntons +settled down to reclaim the wilderness. They had to depend on each +other for society, as their nearest neighbour lived seven miles away. + +Garfield's new home was built of unhewn logs, notched and laid one upon +another, to the height of twelve feet in front and eight feet behind. +The spaces between the logs were filled with clay and mud, to keep out +the wind and the rain. The roof was covered with boards, and the floor +was made of logs, each split into two parts and laid the flat side up. +A plank door and three small windows completed the primitive dwelling. +There was but one large room on the ground floor, twenty by thirty +feet, and a loft above, to which access was obtained by a ladder. In +the loft were the straw beds on which the children slept. + +The land which the pioneers had bought was part of the forest, and was +therefore covered with timber. This had to be cleared away before the +land could be brought into cultivation. Much hard work and steady +application were needed to accomplish this purpose. Abram Garfield was +a strong, well-made man, who shrank from no labour, however hard, and +boldly faced every difficulty with a stout heart and a determined will. +Early and late he toiled on his farm, cheered by the presence of his +wife and children, who were all the world to him. The trees fell +before his axe, and ere long he had room to sow his first crop. With a +thankful heart he saw the grain ripen, and his first harvest was safely +gathered in before the winter storms came on. + +[Illustration: The trees fell before his axe.] + +In January 1830 he removed to his new home, and in November 1831 his +fourth child was born. This baby boy received the name of James Abram +Garfield. Little did the humble backwoodsman dream that the name he +lovingly gave his child would one day be on the lips of millions of his +fellow-countrymen; that it would rank with those of princes, kings, and +emperors; and that it would be linked for ever with the history of the +United States of America. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A FIRE IN THE FOREST. + +The Effects of Prairie Fires--How Abram Garfield saved his Crops--The +sudden Illness and Death of Abram Garfield--The Grave to the corner of +the Wheatfield. + + +One of General Sherman's veteran soldiers was once describing a prairie +fire. When he had finished his story, he raised himself to his full +six feet height, and with flashing eyes said, "If I should ever catch a +man firing a prairie or a forest, as God helps me, I would shoot him +down in his deed." + +No wonder that the old soldier was fired with indignation when he +thought of the terrible consequences which often resulted from such +thoughtless or wanton proceedings. The loss to settlers is often +appalling. The prairies, which in the day-time seem dry, dull, and +uninteresting, give place at night to the lurid play of the fire fiend, +and the heavens and horizon seem like a furnace. It is a grand, yet +awful sight. Cheeks blanch as the wind sweeps its volume towards the +observer, or across his track. + +Full in the distance is seen the long line of bright flame stretching +for miles, with its broad band of dark smoke-clouds above. Often it +rages unchecked for miles and miles, where the cabins of the settlers +have just been set up. No words can describe, no pencil paint, the +look of terror when the settler beholds advancing towards him the +devouring element. When it is first seen, all hands turn out, and a +desperate attempt is made to overcome the common foe. + +Sometimes a counter fire is started, which, proceeding from the +settler's log house in the face of the wind, towards the grander coming +volume, takes away its force, and leaves it nothing to feed upon. Then +it dies away in that direction. In one instance an emigrant was +travelling in a close covered waggon, when he was overtaken by the +flames. In a moment, horses, family, waggon, and everything were +destroyed, and scarcely a vestige remained of what had been. + +Abram Garfield had successfully planted his second crop, which was +nearly ready for the harvest, when he one day heard the terrible cry, +"A fire in the forest." No one knew better than he did the meaning of +those fearful words. Not a moment was to be lost, for he saw that it +was coming in the direction of his little farm. He had no one to help +him but his wife and his two eldest children, but they all set to work +to save their home and the ripening crops. + +Rapidly they threw up a bank of earth between the fields and the coming +fire, and they so far succeeded that it swept round their homestead and +continued its progress beyond. + +After the long, hard fight with the fire, on a hot day in July, Mr. +Garfield sat down on the trunk of a tree to rest. He had, however, +conquered one enemy only to fall a victim to another. While sitting +resting, and cooling himself in the open air, he caught a chill. That +night he awoke in great pain, and his wife thought that he would die +before help could be obtained. + +In the early morning she sent her daughter Mehetabel for Uncle Boynton, +and bade Thomas fetch their nearest neighbour. No doctor lived near, +and the friends did all they could for the stricken man. Their efforts +were in vain. Gradually he became weaker, and then without a struggle +he passed away. His last words to his wife were: "I have planted four +saplings in these woods; I must now leave them to your care." + +Mrs. Garfield carried her burden of sorrow to that Heavenly Father whom +she had learned to trust before the dark cloud of bereavement fell upon +her heart and home. But for her confidence in God, and her belief that +He would aid her to bring up her fatherless children, she might have +given up in despair. + +Far from churchyard or cemetery, the widow arranged to bury her dead in +the plot of land he had saved from the fire, at the cost of his life. +A rough wooden box was made to contain the remains of the brave husband +and loving father, and a grave was dug in a corner of the wheatfield. +Four or five neighbours, all who lived within a radius of ten miles, +attended the funeral, and tried to cheer the hearts of the widow and +orphans by sympathetic words and kind and thoughtful actions. Tenderly +they bore the body of Abram Garfield to its last resting-place and +committed it to the earth, without a prayer except the silent ones +which no ear but God's heard. + +Then they accompanied the bereaved ones back to their own desolate +home. How desolate it was, none who read this book can fully realise. +To be alone in the wilderness is an awful experience, which intensified +the loss a hundred-fold. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FOUR SAPLINGS. + +The Father's Dying Charge--Advised to give up the Farm--A Noble +Resolve--Brave little Thomas--A Hard Time of Trial--The Harvest that +saved the Family. + + +Mrs. Garfield had no time to nurse her sorrow. She knew that she must +be up and doing, for she had to be both father and mother to her +children. "The four saplings" which the dying father had committed to +her care were so young that she could scarcely expect much assistance +from them. + +Winter was fast approaching, and the strong arm of the husband and +father would have been severely taxed to supply all the wants of the +family. Without the breadwinner there seemed to be nothing before them +but starvation. Uncle Boynton was consulted, and he advised his +sister-in-law to give up her farm and return to her friends. He said +that she could not hope to carry it on alone, and by her unaided +efforts support her children. + +Mrs. Garfield saw how dark the future was, and yet she could not follow +the advice so kindly given. She thought of the lonely grave in the +wheatfield, and declared that nothing would induce her to move away +from that sacred spot. She felt somehow that she derived comfort and +support from the knowledge that she was near the dead husband, who had +prepared this home for her and her children. Added to this feeling, +there was the self-respect which independence always brings. She saw +that if she sold her farm, which was only partly paid for, the money +she received would be swallowed up in paying debts, and in the cost of +the removal of her family. But this would leave her and her children +homeless and penniless, and she decided to remain on the farm. + +It was a noble resolve, and came from a brave heart. To remain meant +years of hard work, years of patient endurance, years of quiet +suffering and numberless privations; yet she calmly faced them all, +that she might do her duty to her children, and faithfully discharge +the trust imposed upon her. First, she sold a part of her farm, and +with the money she paid her debts. Then, asking God to help her, she +prepared to fight her way through the difficulties which beset her path. + +Her eldest son, Thomas, was only eleven years old when his father died. +Mehetabel, his sister, was twelve, a younger sister was seven, and +James was not quite two. Thomas was a brave little fellow, and when +his mother spoke to him about the work that would have to be done, he +offered to undertake it all. Though a boy in years, he spoke and acted +like a man. + +That first winter, alone in the backwoods, was a terrible time. +Snowstorms swept around the humble dwelling, and wolves howled in the +forest during the long winter nights. Often the children lay awake in +terror when they heard the fearful cries of the hungry animals, and +knew that their brave protector was no longer there to defend them from +danger. + +As soon as spring came round once more, Thomas borrowed a horse from a +neighbour, and went about the farm work as he had seen his father do. +With the assistance of his mother and, his eldest sister, he planted +wheat, corn, potatoes, and other vegetables. Then his mother helped +him to fence the wheatfield which contained her husband's grave. With +her own hands she brought wood from the forest and split it up into +rails for that purpose. Then the whole of the cleared land, in which +the log house stood, was fenced, and the patient workers waited for the +harvest. + +[Illustration: Tom borrowed a horse.] + +The waiting time is often the hardest to bear. Slowly but surely their +little store of corn grew less and less. Fearing to run short before +the harvest gave them a fresh supply, Mrs. Garfield carefully measured +their slender stock, and as carefully doled out the daily allowance +which alone would enable them to pull through. + +She had no money to buy more, and therefore she gave up one meal a day +for herself, that her children might not suffer from hunger. Still she +found that there was barely sufficient, and the devoted mother took +only one meal a day until the harvest gave a fresh supply. + +Nor did her children know that she pinched herself for their sakes; as +far as they knew, she had enough, and her self-denial was not allowed +to throw a shadow over their young lives, by the thought that their +mother was starving herself that they might not suffer. + +A bountiful harvest, in the autumn of 1834, put an end to the +long-continued strain, and from that time the little household had +sufficient food. When the noble mother saw her table once more well +supplied with the necessaries of life, she thanked God for all His +goodness and loving-kindness to her little flock. Her children had +indeed been saved from the pain of hunger, but she never lost the deep +lines of care and anxiety brought upon her face in those early years of +her widowhood. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A RESTLESS SCHOLAR. + +An Intelligent Child--The First School--James questions the +Teacher--Mrs. Garfield's Offer--Winning a Prize. + + +"Eliza, this boy will be a scholar some day!" said Abram Garfield when +speaking of James to his wife a short time before his death. Even at +that early age, for the little fellow was not two years old, his father +saw an unusual intelligence manifested, which gave him a high estimate +of his baby boy's intellect. + +His mother took great delight in telling him Bible stories, and his +inquiring mind prompted him to ask many curious questions, which +sounded strange coming from one so young. His acquaintance with the +stories of Noah and the Flood, Joseph and his coat of many colours, +Moses and the Red Sea, and other old Testament incidents, was +remarkable. + +Often he amused the children by asking questions, some of which none of +them could answer. Then his eyes sparkled with delight as he gave the +required information. His retentive memory never seemed to be at +fault. What he once heard he remembered. The sturdy pioneers, who had +turned their backs on towns and cities to make their homes in the +wilderness, did not wish their children to grow up in ignorance. The +little settlement soon became a village, and the opening of a school +was an event of the greatest importance. + +Mrs. Garfield heard the news with thankfulness. A school only a mile +and a half away was a boon to her and her children. Now they would get +the education required to fit them for a useful life. More than this +she did not dare to look forward to. + +Jimmy was only three years old when the welcome news reached the log +cabin. Thomas, who was not thirteen, at once decided that his little +brother should go to school. He would have been glad to go as well, +but he knew that his time would be fully occupied in digging up the +potatoes and harvesting the corn. Never was mother prouder of her son +than was Mrs. Garfield of the sturdy lad, who was ready and anxious to +fill a father's place to his brother and sisters, at an age when most +boys think only of tops and kites. + +About this time Jimmy had his first pair of shoes. Thomas was the good +fairy who provided them. By doing odd jobs for a neighbour, he earned +enough money to pay the shoemaker. As houses were few and far between, +it was the custom for the man to live and do his work in the houses of +those who employed him. The happy boy had therefore the pleasure of +watching the shoemaker at work. He saw the leather cut into shape, and +then formed into shoes to fit his feet. Then there came the joy of +wearing them, and the satisfaction of being able to run about without +fear of treading on a sharp stone or thorn. + +Mrs. Garfield was busy with her needle for days before the school +opened, preparing the necessary clothing, that her children might +appear neat and tidy. And when the day came round, Mehetabel set out +with Jimmy on her back, and her younger sister by her side. When they +returned, Mrs. Garfield and Thomas eagerly questioned the scholars, who +declared that they had had "such a good time." Full of excitement, +they described the events of the day, and regarded the twenty-one +scholars present as a most astonishing number. + +Yet the school was but a log cabin, like the one in which the Garfield +family lived. The teacher was a young man, who taught school one part +of the year to earn money to pay for his education in the other part. +The teacher received a certain sum of money for his work, and the +parents of the children took him by turns to board in their houses. +James was an apt scholar, and at once began to question the teacher, to +the no small amusement of the scholars. When the teacher told him +anything, he wanted to know why it was so, and how the teacher knew. +And this curiosity extended to the names of the letters of the alphabet. + +Winter came, and James pursued his studies at home. The long winter +evenings were spent in reading. Lying on the wooden floor, he eagerly +read page after page, by the light of the huge log fire which burned on +the hearth. Before he was six years old he had read every book within +his reach, and wanted more. Wishful to shorten the journey to school, +Mrs. Garfield offered to give a piece of land on one corner of her +farm, if her neighbours would put up a building on it. Those who lived +near welcomed the project, and the schoolhouse was built. + +Then she obtained a teacher from New Hampshire, where she was born, and +she arranged that he should begin by boarding with them. Then the +whole family worked hard to get all the farm work done before he came, +that Thomas might take advantage of his presence among them. The new +teacher found his pupils, and especially our friend Jimmy, so very +restless, that he made the following rule: "Scholars cannot study their +lessons and look about the room; therefore gazing about is strictly +forbidden." + +James did not know that his attention was everywhere, and that he was +always on the alert to hear and to see everything that went on, until +he had several times been reminded of the rule. Again and again he +pleaded that he had forgotten, and bent his eyes on his book, only to +lift them again a few minutes afterwards, to look at something which +arrested his attention. + +At first the teacher did not understand the active, restless mind that +kept the boy in a state of perpetual motion, and he was disappointed +when he found that the better James obeyed his rule, the slower +progress he made. The fact that he had to think about the rule, and +the effort he made to be still and attentive to one thing, retarded him +more than any involuntary motions would have done. The teacher spoke +to Mrs. Garfield about her boy's restlessness, and said that he feared +he should not be able to make a scholar of James. She was so much +grieved to hear this, that the little fellow burst into tears, and, +burying his face in his mother's lap, said, "I will be a good boy! I +mean to be a good boy!" + +The teacher saw that he had made a mistake, and that, in trying to keep +the boy perfectly still, he was cramping his energies and repressing +his natural activity of mind and body. From that day the lad made +rapid progress, and he finished the term by winning the prize of a New +Testament, which had been promised to the scholar who was best in study +and behaviour. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MAN-MAKING. + +At Work on the Farm--A Good Mother's Teaching--A School Incident--The +Building of a New School--Bible Lessons--The Garfields' Motto. + + +The Garfield farm provided for many of the wants of the family, but +money was needed to provide clothing and books, and to pay the teachers +who came from time to time. Thomas, therefore, earned all he could by +engaging himself for short periods to any of the neighbours who +required help. James attended school before he was four years old, and +began to work on the farm when he was only eight. In the absence of +Thomas he took his elder brother's place. He chopped wood, milked the +cows, and made himself useful in a variety of ways. + +Mrs. Garfield was anxious to give Thomas a chance to make his way in +the world, and therefore she arranged that James should make himself as +perfect as possible in farm work before Thomas was of age. At the same +time, she told James that she looked forward to the time when he would +be able to take his place as a teacher or a preacher. In the meantime, +it was his duty to do the work that lay nearest to his hand. Just as +he set himself to learn with all his might, in the same way he went +about the work of the farm. When anything had to be done, he said, "I +can do it," and he did. He was not always successful at the first +attempt, but his self-reliance caused him to peg away in the face of +every difficulty and even seeming failure, and he invariably succeeded +in the end. + +His mother was ever on the watch to help him by her kindly counsels and +wise advice. Many an old proverb, which sank deep into the lad's heart +and helped to build up his character, first fell on his ears from his +mother's lips. She taught him that man's will to do well was rewarded +by God's blessing on his labours. The will to do finds the way to do, +and God helps the one who does his best. + +This was a revelation to James, who thought that God only helped people +to be good. His mother opened his eyes to the fact that this meant to +be good in everything--"good boys, good men, good workers, good +thinkers, good farmers, and good teachers." After that, he regarded +God as One who would help him in his daily labour and make all his +efforts successful. Or, in other words, he saw clearly the truth of +the proverb: "God helps those who help themselves." + +Two phases of his character were developed at a very early age, and +these, coupled with good natural abilities, made him master of the +situation. As we have already seen, he had plenty of self-reliance, +the feeling that he could do anything that could be done, and the +determination to make the most of himself. Then he was ready-witted, +and able to grapple with unexpected emergencies. This will be seen in +an incident which took place when he was a boy at school. + +One day he was sitting by the side of his cousin, Henry Boynton, when +the two lads began to indulge in little tricks with each other. The +teacher noticed their inattention, and, when they laughed out a little +louder than they had intended, he called out, "James and Henry, lay +aside your books and go home, both of you." + +They were so little prepared for such a course of action, that for a +moment they remained in their seats with very serious looks in their +faces. They both knew that the teacher's authority would be supported +at home, and that their parents would be grieved, if not angry, at such +a wanton breach of the rules of the school, as that of which they had +been guilty. + +"Don't dilly-dally!" exclaimed the teacher; "go home immediately!" + +The boys passed out of the door at once, and sadly turned homewards, +wondering how to make the best of the disaster which had befallen them. +You will remember that the school was built on the Garfield farm, and +that therefore it was quite near James's home. The sharp little fellow +suddenly thought of this, and off he ran as fast as he could. Without +being seen by his mother, he reached home, and started back again to +the school. Then, without a word, he slipped inside and took his seat. + +Looking up, the teacher saw him sitting there, and, never thinking that +his order had been obeyed, he called out in a severe tone of voice, +"James, did I not tell you to go home?" + +"I have been home," said the boy quite calmly. + +"Been home?" replied the teacher, who was at a loss how to deal with +the boy's ready wit in getting out of the difficulty. + +"Yes, sir," he said, "I have been home. You did not tell me to stay +there." + +What could the teacher do under such circumstances but tell the boy +that he might remain? He saw that James had learned a lesson, and +would not again incur the risk of being sent home in disgrace. Unlike +many boys, James showed neither a sulky nor a discontented spirit. He +knew that the punishment was deserved, and therefore he set about +undoing the mischief by prompt obedience, and his ready wit suggested a +way out of the trouble. + +Before he left home, Thomas was anxious to make his mother as +comfortable as possible. When he heard that the people of the district +had decided to build a better school, he bought the old one, and +removed it. Then he rebuilt it alongside his mother's cabin. + +Sunday was regarded by the pioneers as a day of rest, but the younger +members of the various families had never even seen a place of worship. +Now and then a travelling preacher called at the settlement, and during +his brief stay held a service in one of the log cabins or in the +schoolhouse. A journey of five or six miles was often taken to be +present at such a service. Whole families, in waggons, on horseback, +and even on foot, might have been seen wending their way to the place +appointed. + +The opportunities for public worship were too few to be neglected, and +the dwellers in the wilderness set a high value on such occasional +ministrations. + +Mrs. Garfield eagerly welcomed the preachers of the gospel who passed +that way, and was glad to place the best fare her cabin afforded before +the earnest men, who braved many dangers, and suffered innumerable +inconveniences, to break to the settlers the Bread of life. The Bible +was the Book of books in the Garfield cabin. Every day it gave the +widow and her children the Divine message, and on Sundays Mrs. Garfield +never failed to do the duty of teacher and preacher to her little flock. + +The reading of God's book every day, and especially on God's day, was +her invariable rule, until her children knew more about the contents +and the teaching of the sacred volume, than many town children who +enjoyed greater privileges and more numerous opportunities. + +How and why the Bible was written, were questions which Mrs. Garfield +answered as well as she was able. Why men were wicked, and what +hindered them from being good, puzzled James. To him it was a great +mystery that any one could continue to do wrong when God was always +willing to help them to do right. + +At this time a great wave of temperance passed over that part of the +country, and James at once questioned his mother about the movement. +Living so far away from the centres of population, the lad had no +opportunity of seeing for himself the terrible evils of drunkenness. +As far as it was necessary, his mother told him of the mischief done by +strong drink, and how much better it was to have nothing to do with it. +Here again the self-reliant boy had a difficulty. Just as he could not +understand how men could help being good, neither could he understand +how they could continue to drink, when they found that it only ended in +ruin. Yet he heard enough to convince him that strong drink was an +enemy, and therefore, at the early age of eight, he became a temperance +reformer. Little did the patient mother think that her humble efforts +at man-making would produce such grand results, and that she was +rearing in that lonely cabin one of the noblest characters the world +has ever seen. + +The motto of the Garfield family was, "Through faith I conquer." That +motto was woven into the life of the boy. Pure in spirit, prompt in +action, loyal in thought and deed to God and his mother, James came to +regard the boy or man who did not dare to do right as the greatest +coward of all. + +With such a firm foundation to rest upon, we do not wonder that James +Garfield's life has been, and will be, an inspiration to many young men +on both sides of the Atlantic. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE TWO BROTHERS. + +A New House--Thomas leaves Home--Sorrow at Parting--James left to +Manage the Farm--The Value of Experience. + + +At length Thomas was twenty-one, and the time had come for him to go +out into the world and make a way for himself. One thing he at that +time desired above all others, and that was to build a better house for +his mother. + +To do this properly it was necessary to engage a carpenter, who would +make the necessary framework. Then Thomas and James would help him to +put up the building. But money was needed to carry out the +undertaking, and this was the purpose to which Thomas decided to devote +his first earnings when he left home. + +One day Thomas returned from an expedition in search of work, in high +glee. He had obtained employment in the State of Michigan. He had +engaged to assist in clearing the forest, that is, in cutting down +trees for a man who was about to make a farm. His wages were to be +fifty shillings a month. This sum seemed a very large amount to James, +who seldom saw much money, and did not know the important part it plays +in towns and cities. Though Mrs. Garfield knew that it was better, +both for the family and for her eldest son, that he should go away and +take a place, a man among men, yet she was very anxious that no evil +should befall him. + +Thomas had been a faithful son and a loving brother. He had been the +mainstay of the family since that sad day when the grave in the +wheatfield hid from their eyes the remains of the husband and father, +who had never spared himself in his efforts to provide for them. + +How much she had leaned on her noble son, even she hardly realised, +until she saw him preparing to leave her. The loving labours, the +strong hand, and the wise counsels of her boy, now a man, would be +sorely missed, yet she dried her tears, and asked the God in whom she +had trusted to support her in this new trial, and, above all, to be +with the lad. If God was with her son, she knew that all would be +well, and that he would come unscathed from the world and its +temptations. So, smiling through her tears, she bade him God-speed. + +[Illustration: She dried her tears and asked God to support her.] + +To James the parting was no less painful. He had confidence in +himself, and manfully made up his mind to fill his brother's place. +Yet he could not see the big brother, who was so dear to him, and who +had done so much for him, go away without feeling an aching void in his +heart. And Thomas--what about him? Did he lightly step out into the +world, and, glad to enjoy a sense of freedom, go on his new path +without a thought of those he was leaving behind? Not so. The man who +as a boy often had so nobly filled a father's place was still a son and +a brother. He left the log cabin because he knew that by doing so he +could the better help the loved ones who remained behind. Every day, +every hour, the gentle, loving mother whom he loved best in all the +world would in spirit be with him. The clever brother of whom he was +so proud would be ever in his thoughts, and the two sisters who had so +faithfully performed their part would not be forgotten. + +[Illustration: An American Farmstead.] + +Brave, noble-hearted, hard-working Thomas Garfield! though only known +to the world through his more gifted brother, he belongs to that grand +army of self-sacrificing spirits who leave a bright and shining track +behind them, and who everywhere make the wilderness and the desert +place to blossom like the rose. + +While Thomas was cutting down trees in Michigan, James was playing the +part of "boy farmer" to the satisfaction of all who knew him. He was +but twelve years of age, and yet he went about his work like a man. He +said that he could take his brother's place, and he did it. Even the +neighbours began to speak with admiration of the diligent lad who was +trying so earnestly to fill his elder brother's place. James worked +cheerfully; he was satisfied to do his best in the position in which he +found himself. He was satisfied to remain in that position until he +had qualified himself for a better. He had hopes and ambitions about +the future, but his whole time and energies were so occupied in doing +his best, that he never for one moment felt the unrest which +accompanies a discontented spirit. + +James did not know the meaning of the word "hardship" in the sense +their neighbour used it. Did it mean hard work? Not to James, for he +was able to do it. Did it mean hard fare? No, for he had enough to +satisfy all his wants. In the companionship of his mother and sisters, +with health and strength, food and raiment, where was the hardship? +That was a question which James could not answer. He had not yet seen +and coveted the pleasures, the luxuries, nor even the conveniences of +the dwellers in towns. He had not felt the want of anything he did not +possess or enjoy. Therefore, while he hoped to be such a man as his +mother had often described, he was content to leave the future to take +care of itself, and was only concerned in making the most of himself in +the present. + +The first season that James had alone, when single-handed he did the +work of the farm, was a severe strain on one so young, but his +readiness to plan or invent some way of meeting difficulties again +stood him in good stead. He found that by exchanging work with a +neighbour he could help both. So he bargained with a farmer to give +him a hand when he had a little spare time, and the farmer in return +agreed to lend James his oxen when he needed them. + +When the end of the season came, James felt that the responsibility he +had assumed, and the work he had carried through, had made a man of +him. The daily round of necessary toil, and the constant need for +careful consideration and foresight, were an invaluable experience and +discipline, which nothing else would have given him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HOUSE-BUILDING. + +"James must be a Scholar"--Thomas returns Home and builds a New +House--A Lesson in Carpentering--The Volume of Robinson Crusoe--James +eager to Travel. + + +Mrs. Garfield was glad to see James so contented with his work on the +farm, but she was not satisfied to think that his life should be spent +in cultivating the soil. One day she spoke to him about this, and said +that she wished him to become a scholar. He replied that he also had +the same desire--in fact, that he should like nothing better--but he +did not see how he could obtain the education. + +It was this view of the case that troubled his mother. She could not +see any way out of the difficulty, and therefore she had once more to +leave her case in the hands of God. He had made a way for them in +times past, when human eyes could see no path, and she believed that He +would again render the necessary assistance. + +It was a happy day in the Garfields' cabin when Thomas returned. James +was the first to see him, and with a loud cry of joy he ran off to meet +and welcome his brother. Their mother heard that cry, and from her +cabin door she saw her two sons approaching hand in hand. They were +both speaking at once, and the burden of their conversation was +expressed in the first words Thomas spoke to his mother. + +"We are going to have a frame house now," he cried. + +A moment later they were all inside the cabin together--mother, sons, +and daughters, and in the mother's lap lay a handful of gold, which +Thomas had placed there. James danced with excitement as he saw the +sparkling coins which his brother had earned. Never before had he seen +a gold coin, and he had hardly imagined that such a sum could be within +the reach of the humble workman. + +Mrs. Garfield looked at the little pile on her knee, and then at her +son, but she did not utter a single word. + +"Why don't you say something?" cried James in his excitement. + +Why? Because she was unable to do so. There are feelings too deep for +words, and times when we cannot give expression to the intense joys or +bitter sorrows that thrill or rend our hearts. + +The bitter sorrow she had experienced when her husband was struck down +in his early manhood; the intense joy now possessed her soul when she +saw this golden token of her eldest son's love and devotion. The gold +that was needed to provide a better house for her lay there, and no one +knew its value better than she did. But what were the golden coins to +the mother, compared with the pure, unselfish, loving spirit of her +son? She would not have exchanged that precious filial affection for +all the gold that was coined in royal mint. + +Relief came when at length the mother's tears fell on the shining +coins. Tears indeed! but tears of joy. Never was there a happier +woman in the world than was Widow Garfield at that moment. + +No time was lost in carrying out the work, for Thomas was eager to get +back again to earn more money while there was plenty of employment. +When he had arranged with Mr. Treat, the village carpenter, he made a +journey to Cleveland with James to obtain lime, nails, and windows. + +A few days after, the carpenter came, and, assisted by Thomas and +James, he set about his task. James had never seen a frame house +built, and he was as eager and curious to watch how the work was done +as he had been years before, when the shoemaker sat in the log cabin +and made him his first pair of shoes. + +[Illustration: The carpenter set about his task.] + +He not only watched every operation, but eagerly lent a hand where he +could. Hammer, chisel, and plane were in turn used as deftly as if he +had served an apprenticeship to the trade. He especially distinguished +himself in planing the boards ready for the carpenter, who declared +that James was equal to a trained workman. He did the work well and +quickly, and was so delighted with his success that he called it "fun." + +When the frame was ready, the neighbours came on an appointed day to +help to raise it and put it in position. This was a great day for Mrs. +Garfield, who received the congratulations of her neighbours, and +listened with motherly pride to the words of praise they bestowed upon +the son who had made this provision for his mother. Nailing on the +boards next gave James work thoroughly to his mind. Boys are always +fond of driving nails, and James was no exception to the rule. + +The new frame house was a great improvement on the log cabin. It +contained three rooms on the ground floor, and two above, and it was +altogether better finished and more comfortable than the ruder dwelling +had been. The building of the new house had been a most enjoyable time +to James, and it had also been a valuable experience to the observant +lad. He turned it over in his mind for several months, and then he +told his mother that he thought he might be able to earn some money by +working at the carpenter's trade. She said that he had quite enough to +do, but she was willing to let him try. + +"Yes, I will try," said James, for he had long ago found out that there +was nothing like trying. + +An hour later he was in the carpenter's shop. The man gave him a +hearty welcome. When he heard the object of the lad's mission, he at +once said-- + +"I shall be glad to give you a job. I like boys who want to help their +mothers. I don't like lazy boys, and I know there is not a lazy bone +in your body." + +James agreed to begin on the following day, and the carpenter gave him +a pile of boards to plane. He was to receive a halfpenny for each +board; and to his own delight, and the carpenter's astonishment, he +planed one hundred the first day, and received four shillings and +twopence. Once more was Mrs. Garfield struck dumb. Her feelings of +joy and thankfulness could not find expression in words. Was there +ever a mother so blessed with devoted sons? Silently the mother +clasped her boy in her arms, and in this way showed the love she could +not speak. + +James continued to spend as much time as he could spare from the farm +work in helping the carpenter, and then, when the winter school opened, +he once more gave all his attention to his studies. The day after the +school closed, the carpenter engaged him to assist in building a barn. +This gave him employment until farming began, and he was paid at the +rate of two shillings a day. + +When the work was done, he received four pounds, and what was worth +more, both to him and his worthy mother, the hearty commendation of his +employer, who said, as he gave him the money-- + +"You have earned every penny of it." + +About this time James borrowed a copy of Robinson Crusoe, which he +eagerly devoured. It opened a new world to the lad's inquiring mind, +and awakened within him a strong desire to travel and see something of +the world. + +Two or three incidents of his youth may here be told, as they serve to +still further illustrate the different phases of his character. + +A friend invited him to make a short excursion to visit an acquaintance +on the Sunday. James at once refused. His friend pleaded that it was +the only day on which the visit could be made, but James would not be +persuaded. He said that it would be against his mother's wishes; +therefore, if he never went, he would not go on Sunday. + +One day he found the same friend throwing stones at the cat. James at +once stopped him, and spoke so earnestly against cruelty to animals +that the youth begged, pardon for his thoughtless conduct, and said +that he should ever afterwards befriend cats. In the school there was +a fatherless boy like himself, who had no older brother to stand up for +him. When James saw the bigger boys teasing the little fellow, he took +the boy's part, and compelled his tormentors to leave him in peace. + +The seasons followed each other in rapid succession, and with each came +the tasks which gave James the employment he so much enjoyed. The +farm, the carpenter's shop, and the school kept him busy, and at +fifteen he could do a day's work with any man in the district. +Studying geography and reading books of travel had, however, one effect +on his mind--they made him eager to see the places about which he had +read. When he spoke to his mother on the subject, she expressed a wish +for him to remain at home until a fitting opportunity came. + +"Wait for Providence," she said; and in the meantime James waited. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +FAITHFUL WORK. + +A New Employment--At the Potash Works--Desire for a Seafaring Life--On +a Farm again. + + +One day Farmer Smith called at Mrs. Garfield's house, to ask James to +help him in weeding the peppermint, adding at the same time, that he +had engaged twenty boys for this especial purpose. Mrs. Garfield said +that her son was at that time very busy, and she thought that the +farmer would have enough boys without him. + +The farmer replied that without James he should have altogether too +many. He had engaged them with the intention of getting James to lead +them, because of the wonderful influence he had over them. "James," +said the farmer, "is a fast worker, and all the time he so interests +the boys with stories, anecdotes, and fun, that they do their best to +keep up with him. I am quite willing," he continued, "to pay James +something extra, and I shall then be the gainer by engaging him." + +The farmer had employed James before at similar work, and therefore he +knew the value of such an active, cheerful servant. Once more he +agreed to take command of the weeders, and the work was again done to +the entire satisfaction of the shrewd farmer. The last job in which +James helped the carpenter was the building of a shed in connection +with a large potash factory. The owner of the works saw him, and +noticed how he gave his whole mind to the business in hand. As soon as +it was done, he was eager to employ the lad. + +When James received an offer of nearly three pounds a month from the +manufacturer, he was filled with surprise. It was nearly ten shillings +more than was usually paid. + +"I want just such a hand as you in my business," said the man; "and you +may come as soon as you like, and remain as long as you please." + +"I must first consult my mother," said James, "and if she consents, I +will begin work on Monday." + +Mrs. Garfield was filled with fear when she heard of Mr. Barton's +offer. She said that the rate of wages was high, but the workmen who +were engaged in the factory were rough and coarse in their speech and +manner of life. James replied that he had no fear of being led away by +their bad example. He said that evils would meet him everywhere, and +that he was quite able to resist all temptation to do wrong. The wise +mother did not question the strength of his power to resist evil, but +she reminded him of the text, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take +heed lest he fall." + +Then, when she had sufficiently impressed upon his mind that there was +a real need for the utmost care, she gave her consent. Indeed, she +could hardly refuse when James reminded her that he was waiting for +Providence to open a door, and that if Providence had not opened this +door, he should never know when Providence did open one. + +James went to the factory on the following Monday morning, and was at +once set to keep the books of the establishment, and attend to the +buying and the selling of the potash. The manner in which he attended +to business caused Mr. Barton to place absolute confidence in him, and +to treat him with the utmost kindness. James was the first to enter +the factory in the morning, and the last to leave it at night. The men +who brought ashes for sale were not always honest, and they often +charged for more than they delivered. James, in measuring their loads, +soon found out that his master was being systematically robbed. He put +an end to such unprincipled conduct, and thereby still further +increased Mr. Barton's confidence in him. + +At the works, the men were, as his mother had described them to be, +rough in manner and very profane in their conversation. This gave +James so much pain, that he kindly but firmly pointed out the +wickedness as well as the uselessness of swearing; and though he was +told that it was no business of his to take notice of these things, his +presence was an influence for good over them. + +While living in Barton's house, he read a number of books on seafaring +life and the doings of famous pirates. They fired his imagination so +much, that he never tired of reading them, and he conceived a strong +desire to be a sailor. This desire became stronger every day, and when +Mr. Barton spoke to him about settling down to the potash business, +James told him he wanted to go to sea. The old man spoke strongly +against such a course, and told him that if he would stay in his +service, he might look forward to the time when he would have a factory +of his own. + +[Illustration: He never tired of reading.] + +James was not willing to give up his idea of going to sea, but he +remained for some months with his employer. One day, however, Mr. +Barton's daughter spoke of him as a hired servant, and this made James +so angry, that, in spite of the persuasions of his master, he left the +factory, and returned home on the following day. + +His mother was glad to see him back again, though she did not agree +with his hasty action in leaving without notice. James explained to +his mother that he had not taken offence at being called a hired +servant, but at the insulting manner in which the words were said. +Then he filled her heart with dread by expressing a wish to go to sea. +This was a severe blow to his mother, who told him that she could never +give her consent to that. She even told him to say no more about +taking such a step unless he wanted to make her unhappy. + +As a man had been engaged to do the work on Mrs. Garfield's farm, James +once more went away in search of a job. This time he was employed by +an uncle, who lived at Newburg, to chop wood. While there he lodged +with his sister Mehetabel, who had been married some time before. He +now worked within sight of Lake Erie, and his desire to be a sailor was +intensified when he saw the vessels sailing to and fro on the broad +expanse of water before him. At first he lost much time watching the +ships, but when he found that his work suffered, he gave it all his +attention. + +When he spoke to his sister about being a sailor, she replied as her +mother had done, and told him that he had better be anything than that. +He was too clever, she said, to throw away his abilities on board a +ship. + +When the work was done, James carried the money he had earned to his +mother, and then engaged to help a farmer who lived a few miles away. +The work was very hard, and the men were busy from early morning till +late at night. James, however, would not be beaten. + +"If I can't do as much as others do," he said, "I will give up the job." + +At the end of the season he received his wages, and the farmer said, as +he paid him, "You've done well." + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE ROPE THAT SAVED HIM. + +The Driver of a Canal-boat Mule-team--Defence of the Eight--James +speaks out plainly--A Narrow Escape--A Severe Illness--The +Turning-point in James's Life. + + +When Mrs. Garfield found that James had become unsettled and restless, +she decided to give way, and allow him to obtain some experience of a +seafaring life. Finding that he had no definite plan in his mind, she +proposed that he should try a voyage on Lake Erie. + +This suggestion fell in with his wishes, and, once more taking his +bundle in his hand, he set out to seek his fortune. On foot he +journeyed to Cleveland, a distance of seventeen miles, and went on +board the first vessel he saw. There he inquired for the captain of +the schooner, whom he expected to be a gentleman. To his disgust, the +man who appeared was a drunken, swearing fellow, who, with a volley of +oaths, threatened to throw him into the dock if he did not at once +leave the vessel. + +No pleasant dream was ever more rudely dispelled than were James +Garfield's bright visions of the charm of a seafaring life. No such +wretch as the captain he had just met with had been described in any of +the books he had read, and he began to think that there must be a +mistake somewhere. At any rate, he had no present intention of giving +up the idea of being a sailor. While walking along the side of the +docks, he met his cousin, Amos Fletcher, who was the captain of a canal +boat, and to whom he related his recent experience. + +Amos offered him the post of driver, and James engaged to go with his +cousin to Pittsburg in that capacity. His work was to take turns with +another driver, and, for a certain number of hours, when his turn came, +to drive the two mules which drew the boat along the canal. + +The boatmen were profane, coarse, vulgar whisky-drinkers, "who regarded +rum and tobacco as among the chief necessaries of life." A greater +contrast there could not have been than that which existed between +James and the men among whom his lot was cast. + +The work required some experience, and the very first day the new +driver and his mules were thrown into the canal, while trying to pass +another boat. At once the other men ran to his assistance, and, when +James and his mules were placed safely on the towing-path, he had to +stand a considerable amount of good-humoured chaffing. + +Amos had been engaged in teaching before he became the captain of a +canal boat, and when he found how much James knew, he spoke very +seriously to him about his future prospects. His cousin told him that +with a little more education he would be well qualified to take charge +of a school, and strongly advised him to adopt this course. James now +remembered that not only his mother and sister, but every one to whom +he had spoken, had told him he was throwing himself away in seeking to +be a sailor, and therefore the words of his cousin had considerable +influence over him. He began to think that he had been guilty of +acting foolishly, and to waver in his purpose. + +[Illustration: On board the canal boat.] + +One day the boat came to a lock the same time as another boat, and the +crews of the two vessels were about to fight for the first turn, when +James spoke out boldly, and declared that the right belonged to the +other boat, and that it should precede them. The captain was so struck +with his cousin's manly defence of the right, that he ordered his men +to give way. A fight was prevented, and fair play was given to the +first comers. Some of the men in his own crew called him a coward, but +that had no effect on James. He had long ago settled in his own mind +that the greatest coward was the one who did not dare to do right. + +Not long afterwards James offended one of the men, who at once set upon +him. To save himself, James knocked the man down. All the men at once +called upon James to pitch into him while he was on the ground. But +James replied that he never struck a man when he was down. This was a +new idea to the men, who had called him a coward because he would not +fight for that which did not belong to him. Ever afterwards they +regarded him with respect. Even they, rough and brutal as they were, +could appreciate the generous spirit which prompted such noble actions. + +One of the boatmen, named Harry Brown, was a good-hearted fellow, who +took a great fancy to James. This man was, however, so very fond of +drink, that he was always getting into trouble. James tried to +persuade Harry to give up drinking, and the man listened willingly to +the kind advice which he found so hard to follow. When speaking of +James to one of the crew, Harry said, "Jim is a great fellow. I should +like to see what sort of a man he will make. The way he rakes me down +on whisky, tobacco, and swearing is a caution, and he does not say a +word that is not true. I like him, though. I always like a man to +show his colours." + +All through life it was the same. No matter where he was, or in what +circumstances he was placed, James Garfield always showed his colours, +and he was never afraid to nail them to the mast. + +Therefore the ignorant, drunken crew not only respected the lad who so +boldly reproved them, but boasted of the companionship of one so unlike +themselves. Said the steersman to the bowman of another boat, "We have +a fellow in our crew who never drinks, smokes, chews, swears, nor +fights; but he's a jolly good fellow, strong as a lion, could lick any +of us if he has a mind to, and a first-rate worker. I never saw such a +boy." Both captain and crew agreed that James was a peacemaker, and +that he carried out his purpose without making enemies. Thorough and +prompt in everything, and unwilling to be a party to any wrong-doing, +he was regarded as a model worthy of imitation by all who knew him. + +During the few months that he was on the canal boat, James fell into +the water fourteen times. The last time nearly cost him his life. It +was a dark and rainy night, and no one saw him jerked into the water. +The boat swept on, and just as he began to despair of receiving any +aid, his hand caught a rope in the darkness, and he drew himself into a +place of safety. He found that the rope that had served his purpose +had held fast by catching in a crevice on the edge of the deck. That +was all that had come between him and death. Never had James had such +serious thoughts in his mind as then, when he saw the rope and how it +had saved him. + +At once he thought of his praying mother, and the over-ruling +Providence in which she so firmly believed. And at that moment he made +up his mind to leave the canal boat, and return to his home. + +A few weeks afterwards, James was attacked by ague, and he decided to +go at once. It was eleven o'clock at night when he reached the house. +Looking through the window, he saw his mother by the light of the fire. +She was on her knees. Listening for a moment, he heard the words that +fell from her lips. She was praying for him. A moment later, mother +and son, once more reunited, were sobbing in each other's arms. Then +James told his mother all about his life on the canal, and how God had +preserved him almost by a miracle from drowning. After that he went to +bed, and next day was found to be so ill that he was laid up for +several weeks. + +During that period Mrs. Garfield often spoke to James about his future, +and he agreed with his mother, that if God saved his life on that +night, He must have saved him for something. Then she brought her son +under the influence of the teacher of their school, who was preparing +to be a minister, and he soon showed James that the difference between +a scholar and a sailor is the difference between somebody and nobody. + +James decided to continue his education. That was the turning-point in +his life. His mother knew that, having once said, "I will go to +school," he would keep his word, and from that time she was satisfied. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +STRIKING OUT A NEW LINE. + +James decides to attend a College--He obtains Employment whereby to pay +his Fees--Looking Upward. + + +In the life of every strong youth there comes a time when the manhood +within him awakens to a consciousness of its proper powers. Such a +moment had come in the life of young Garfield. His best friends had +striven hard to awaken his slumbering ambition; even the companions of +the towpath and of the woodyard had spoken with regret of the apparent +waste of such abilities as he had shown; while his mother, who had been +the first to perceive his talents, never ceased to urge her boy to fit +himself for an honourable and useful calling. + +All this advice, however, seemed to be thrown away on the strong-willed +youth, until that moment when the Spirit of God laid hold of him. +Then, as if a lamp had been lit in the empty house, his whole nature +was transfigured. He was still the same sturdy, happy, self-reliant +lad; but he was also a youth with a purpose in life. He no longer +allowed passing fancies to rule his conduct, but, fixing his eye upon +one goal, he began splendidly to push his way towards the prize upon +which he had set his heart. + +With a natural shrewdness, he saw at once that a man without culture +and mental training could not climb high on the ladder of life. He saw +that knowledge was the one key which opened the door to power in +America, and with characteristic energy he set himself to seek that key. + +The story of Garfield's attempts to gain an education forms one of the +most romantic portions of his history. At first the height of his +ambition was to attend a little Western college called Geauga Seminary, +a school where about a hundred youths and maidens were gathered, under +the auspices of the Free-will Baptist denomination, at the town of +Chester in the State of Ohio. + +Garfield, accompanied by two cousins, arrived at Geauga Seminary on +March 5, 1849. It was perhaps the most important moment of his life, +when the big, awkward, ill-dressed boy crossed the threshold of that +humble college, and began to tread the path that was to lead straight +on to one of the highest places of dignity on earth. + +He and his companions hired a room, and with but a little in money, a +sack or two of provisions, some pots and pans, and an old school-book, +began their simple college course. + +Garfield's plans to make his money last as long as possible were +amazing. He began with about two pounds, his dear mother's savings, +but text-books and school fees had already reduced his tiny fortune. + +At first the lads did their own cooking, with indifferent success. +Next they tried to live on bread and milk, but found it insufficient. +Then Garfield discovered a local carpenter who had planks to plane, and +in his spare time he found employment with him. Thus, working at his +books in the daytime, and toiling at the bench at night, he plodded +along. And yet, though his struggles were long and trying, there was +no need for pity in the condition of the young student. + +Probably no conceivable circumstances would have better developed the +character of this backwoods scholar. His hardy limbs found real +pleasure in work, which kept his body braced and healthy, while the +active mind was exerting its great faculties in the keen pursuit of +knowledge. + +Some of the most interesting and instructive periods in the lives of +the greatest men, both in this country and in America, have been found +in just such conditions as these. Thoughtful English lads will never +tire of hearing about those men, who, starting at the lowest point of +mental knowledge and social opportunities, have yet contrived to fill +in their day a large space in the world of letters. Take for example +the stories of the three cobbler lads--Drew the historian, Cooper the +reformer, and Carey the missionary, who, each in his own way, proved +superior to poverty and all its attendant disadvantages, and rose, the +one from his bench to a professorship in the London University, the +other from a position equally lowly to a high place among the thinkers +and writers of his day; and the third, leaving his lapstone to take up +the pen of a translator, from cobbling boots in a back kitchen, went +out to be the great master missionary of his age. + +And just as in olden times God called His chief servants from the +farmstead and the sheep-run, so even still the men of might have been +those whose natures were made strong by youthful hardship and boyish +battles. + +The slave lad who became the Old World's greatest statesman, the +shepherd boy who became its noblest King, and the young farmer who +stood among its mightiest prophets, are but the types and forerunners +of the Luthers and Lincolns and Garfields of more modern days. + +Garfield, when once his eyes were opened, was quick enough to see that +no boy could possibly succeed in life while he remained in ignorance. +He said over and over again, "Mother, I must have an education"; and, +having made up his mind to this, he set himself to secure it in the +only possible way. + +No false pride hindered him, no difficulties drove him back. He knew +that he would have to begin at the bottom, and he knew also that he +would have to work his way, every inch of the long journey. + +One of his own wise sayings was this: "Poverty is uncomfortable, as I +can testify; but, nine times out of ten, the best thing that can happen +to a young man is to be tossed overboard, and compelled to sink or swim +for himself. In all my acquaintance, I never knew a man to be drowned +who was worth saving." No man illustrated his own words better than +James Garfield. + + "Labour is glory!--the flying cloud lightens; + Only the waving wing changes and brightens; + Idle hearts only the dark future frightens; + Play the sweet keys, wouldst thou keep them in tune." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +TEACHING AND LEARNING. + +First Term at College--The Pleasure of real Success--James Garfield +meets his Wife--He applies for a Schoolmastership--A Generous Offer. + + +It is sometimes said that education spoils lads for hard work. As a +teacher in after years, Garfield had often to argue this point with the +fathers of his pupils, who feared lest the college should unfit their +boys for the farm and the forest. But better than any argument was his +own example. + +His first duty on returning home from school was to build his mother a +new barn. "It spoils some boys to go to school," said his brother +Thomas at the beginning of the first vacation, but it had not spoiled +James Garfield. + +With his brother's help, he built the barn, and then set off to find +work among the neighbouring farmers. Haymaking occupied him for +several weeks, then a + +[Transcriber's note: pages 81 and 82 missing.] + +It was this moral courage which gave Garfield his great influence over +his companions all through life. And when, after his second term at +Geauga; he felt himself able to undertake the charge of one of the +winter schools, which were started for small settlers' children, it was +this quality, above all others, which made him a successful teacher. + +He finished his second term at the top of his class. His mental powers +were now thoroughly awakened, his mind was quick, his memory retentive, +and he soon out-distanced all competitors. Every evening during the +session he had found his way into the carpenter's shop, and with such +results, that he finished the term in good health, without debt, and +with nearly a pound in his pocket. + +Now he was resolved to try his hand at "keeping school." But at first +he had some difficulty in finding a school to keep. His youthful +appearance frightened the managers at one place; they did not want "a +boy to teach at their school." His second and third applications were +too late; the vacancies were filled up. At the next place he was even +more discouraged, for, said the manager, "We had one fellow from Geauga +Seminary, and he made such a botch of it, that we don't want another." + +As frequently happens, the opportunity came just when hope was lowest. +He reached home thoroughly discouraged with these repeated refusals, +and almost too hopeless to respond to his mother's kindly, cheerful +words. But there was a purpose in all this apparent failure. At his +own door lay the task which was to try the metal in the man, and it was +here that young Garfield was to prove the master spirit that was in him. + +At a place close by, called The Ledge, was a school without a teacher. +And next morning one of the members of the committee of management came +over to offer the post of master to young Garfield. + +James was eager enough to secure a school, yet he hesitated to accept +this offer. The Ledge was a district notorious for the roughness of +its inhabitants, and for the unruly character of its young people. +Besides, many of the youths in this school were old acquaintances of +Garfield, and the young teacher naturally shrank from undertaking such +a charge. + +After duly considering the matter, however, Garfield accepted the post. +His pupils were the sons and daughters of the neighbouring farmers, and +many of them were quite grown up. They worked on the farm in the +summer, and then attended school for a few months in the winter. + +Garfield, of course, knew well enough that while among such a class +there were a few like himself, anxious to get an education, a still +larger number were quite indifferent, and looked upon the school as a +place for unbridled fun. Two previous masters they had already driven +out, and the committee had experienced as much difficulty in procuring +a master, as Garfield had found in securing a school. + +James feared that his scholars, knowing so much of his early history, +would be likely to hold both his scholarship and his character somewhat +lightly. He found, however, that this acquaintance was really his best +recommendation. + +His manly, straightforward character had an attraction for them; his +skill and strength as an athlete, and his known courage, ensured him +the respect even of the most turbulent among his scholars. The lads +felt that their master was a boy who was making his way in life; they +knew that he was no mere bookworm, but one of themselves, only stronger +and abler. + +His shrewd native wit saved him from many a mistake. He was prudent +and firm, ready and resourceful, and his sharp tongue was a weapon they +feared even more than his heavy hand. His wildest scholars admired +him; while his sympathy with those pupils who, like himself, possessed +no advantages save such as could be gained by their own hands, endeared +him to the more thoughtful. + +Thus, when his first season as a teacher was ended, he returned home +with the reputation of one of the most successful common schoolmasters +in the country. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +FINDING FRIENDS. + +The Young Janitor at Hiram Institute--Personal Appearance at this +time--Teaching and Preaching--The Tailor of Troy--The Beginning of the +Civil War. + + +James Garfield attended the Geauga Seminary three years in succession. +During his second and third vacations he acted as master in some of the +log-schools in his native county. + +Then, at the age of twenty, he went from teaching school to sweeping +the college floor at Hiram Institute. Here, besides gaining a +considerable step in his education, Garfield began to exercise his +gifts as a speaker. The debating society of his college found in him +its most fluent disputant, and the college became immensely proud of +the promising youth, whose reputation as a ready and effective speaker +was spreading far and wide. + +In two ways he found outlet and exercise for the more generous +instincts of his nature--in preaching the Gospel and in denouncing +slavery. Even as early as this, the great struggle that was fated to +bathe his nation in blood and fire was looming near, and the nobler +among the young men of the country were unconsciously preparing to play +their great parts in the awful civil war. + +On entering Hiram Institute, Garfield was too poor to pay the ordinary +fees. He had applied, therefore, for the post of janitor, and his +duties were to sweep the rooms and ring the bell. He held this office +for one year, and during the whole of that time it was said that never +once did his bell ring behind the time. + +From the humble position of janitor he was promoted at the end of the +session to the more honourable one of assistant tutor. It seemed as if +his experience was to be a continual example of the possibility, and +even the advantage in some respects, to a healthy lad, of combining +great success in study with great industry in manual labour. + +His pay as a teacher was little more than nominal, and it was still +necessary that he should work to live, therefore he engaged his +mornings and evenings, as at Geauga, to a local carpenter, and thus +supported himself. + +Such perseverance as this of course attracted the attention of both his +fellow-students and his professors. By the former he was voted "a +brick," by the latter he was mentally designated for a future professor +and principal of the Institute; while in the minds of both young men +and old there was a feeling, slowly shaping itself into a prophecy, +that such ability and courage and character could have but one end, and +that Garfield was destined to become President of the United States. + +When he entered the Geauga Seminary, it was probably with no +expectation of proceeding farther on the road of learning than the +limited resources of that little country college could carry him. His +success there had sent him on to the Hiram Institute, and now it was a +matter of course that he should go to a university and take his degree. +But once more the money difficulty faced him, and once more the +devotion of one of the best brothers in the world opened the way. +Thomas was doing fairly well as a farmer; he had saved a little money, +and this he offered as a loan to his brother. James accepted the loan +gladly; and, to secure his generous brother against loss in case of his +own death, he insured his life for one hundred pounds. + +Garfield had acquired none of the outward graces of fashionable young +men when he entered upon his career at Williams' University. He was +tall, big-limbed, and rather lanky. His garments were of the homeliest +manufacture, and his speech was somewhat broad and provincial. In +mental stature, however,--in scholarship and reading and judgment,--he +was a man, every inch of him. His fine face and magnificent head and +sparkling eyes gave promise of rare powers, and once more, and with +perfect ease, he took his place in the front rank of his +fellow-students. + +Here, as at each stage in his eventful life, young Garfield proved that +every person must decide for himself the amount of respect that is +really due to him from his companions. + +No one could have entered college with a more homely appearance than +Garfield. His rustic manners and still more rustic dress invited +criticism among the smart young men of his college, yet because he was +by nature a gentleman, he was treated from the first as such, by both +teachers and students alike. + +His vacations, as before, were spent in teaching, and his Sabbaths in +preaching. In this latter office he acquitted himself so well, that it +became quite an accepted opinion that he was to become a minister. +This was one mark of the high estimation in which he was held, but +there were others besides. The position of teacher in a high school, +at the handsome salary of two hundred and fifty pounds, was offered him +at this time. The offer, however, was declined, for the reason that it +would prevent him taking his degree, and thus interfere with his plans +in life. + +His ambition was a very noble one. He wished, he said, to take a +degree, to win, if possible, a name for scholarship; and then to go +back to the modest salary and the limited sphere of the Hiram +Institute, and thus help the humble college which had done so much for +him. + +Another illustration of the good name he had earned was shown in a +smaller, but still very practical way. His brother Thomas's resources +had unfortunately given out, and James was in urgent need of money to +buy a suit of clothes. Careless as he was about his personal +appearance, the state of his wardrobe had become a serious anxiety to +him. One day a tailor in Troy sent for him, took his measure, and +fitted him out, saying, "Go on with your education, and when you have +some money for which you have no other use, pay me." This was a little +matter in itself, but of great interest as showing the opinion which +his neighbours had formed of the young man. + +It was during his residence at Williams' that the country was thrown +into excitement by Preston Brooks' attack upon Charles Sumner. Sumner +had taken a prominent part in the growing desire of the Northern States +of America for the abolition of slavery. He was a Senator of the +United States, and a politician and orator of great influence. + +One day, as he sat writing at his desk in the Senate House, two men +came up to him. One of these, a Senator and a slaveholder from South +Carolina, of the name of Brooks, was armed with a heavy stick. This +ruffian attacked Sumner from behind, felled him with a blow, and then +beat him as he lay upon the floor, leaving him almost dead. For this +grievous offence a small fine was imposed upon Brooks, and the amount +was promptly paid by his admiring constituents. The bully then +resigned his seat, and was re-elected without opposition by the South +as its spokesman, leader, and law-maker. + +The news of this murderous attack spread like a flame through the land. +In every State in the South it found a ready response in the sullen +passions of the slave-owners, whose hatred for the Abolitionists it +exactly expressed. Throughout the North it raised a nobler sentiment, +and called forth a resolve that the system which placed millions of +human beings under the absolute power of such men as this Brooks must +be swept away. In both North and South that blow in the Senate House +at Washington fell like a spark among the stubble: it set the nation on +fire. + +Among others who denounced the shameful deed was young Garfield. The +students of his university called a public meeting to protest against +the crime, and Garfield was the principal speaker. His address more +than surprised his companions. All the passionate vehemence of his +mighty heart was awakened by this outrage, and all the slumbering +hatred which he had nursed since boyhood against the abominations of +slavery sprang to his lips. + +As his hot words swept over the audience, his fellow-students sat +amazed. Great as had been their belief in his powers, they had hardly +expected this, and they heard enough that night to convince them that +one of the mighty men of the earth was rising up amongst them; and they +went away from the meeting whispering, "We have heard great things +to-day." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE FIRST BLOW. + +Garfield's Power as a Platform Speaker--A Candidate for the Senate--His +Election--Is Slavery right or wrong?--War inevitable--The Attack on +Fort Sumter--The Civil War begun. + + +Garfield was twenty-six when he left Williams' University. He entered +this college a raw student from a Western seminary; he left it a +distinguished scholar, a graduate with honours, and a popular lay +preacher and platform speaker. + +In spite of many flattering offers, he had remained true to the Western +Institute at Hiram. Before his return he was appointed teacher of +ancient languages and literature there, and to this office he came full +of enthusiasm. + +The salary was only one hundred and fifty pounds a year, less by +one-third than the sum offered him by the trustees of the high school +at Troy, but that made no difference to Garfield. He brought to the +duties of his profession a profound love for the school to which he +himself was so greatly indebted, and an ardent desire to help young +fellows as poor as himself. He found plenty of scope for his gifts, +and he taught with such success that in two years' time he was +appointed principal of the Institution. + +This was the height of his ambition. Around him were some three +hundred young people, sons and daughters of the great West, whose +mental and spiritual training was in his hands. He regarded it as a +sacred trust, and he solemnly devoted his life to the service of these +Western students. + +His ideal was a high one. The teacher, he felt, was a builder of the +nation, and he resolved that no work should leave his hands that was +ill planned or badly done. + +The memory of his own early struggles made him especially mindful of +the poorer scholars, and his keen eye was always on the look-out for +young men of promise. Perfectly free in his intercourse with the +students, the young principal maintained his influence by the nobility +of his character and the steadiness of his aim. His only wish was to +help his pupils. And they believed in him with a faith that in the +years to come transformed his classes into battalions on the field of +battle. + +The slavery question was still exercising the minds of all parties when +Garfield returned to Hiram. His power as a speaker made him an +important ally to the Abolitionist party in his country, and his fame +brought numberless demands for platform work. The Democratic party in +the States had unhappily identified itself with slavery. Its leaders +defended the system, its members voted in its favour; while the +Republicans led the way for its abolition. + +Soon after Garfield's return to Hiram, a well-known Democrat named Hart +visited the town, to deliver an address on slavery. It was a clever +speech, and made some impression, and the principal of the Institute +was urged by the Republicans to reply. After some hesitation, Garfield +did so. The answer was said to have been calmly given, but its grim +facts of slavery horrors, its awful pictures of slavery evils, were so +overwhelming, that his opponent was completely crushed. + +This triumph naturally raised the demand that a man of such abilities +should go into politics, and he was formally requested to become a +candidate for the State Legislature. For a long time he refused. The +interests of his school seemed so great, and his love for the work was +so strong, that for a while nothing could move him. + +In the year 1859, however, the appeals of his fellow-townsmen had grown +so urgent, that he reluctantly became a candidate for the Senate of the +State of Ohio. He had held back until the trustees of the Institute +and his fellow-teachers joined their entreaties with the townsmen, and +offered during his absence to do double duty in the school to release +him for the public service. Greatly touched by these generous offers, +Garfield at length consented, and was at once nominated a candidate to +the parliament of his native State. + +Though he had been slow to accept nomination, he did not hold back when +once the battle had begun, and some few who looked with doubt on his +youth and inexperience soon found that they had in their midst a bold +though prudent leader. He won the seat by a large majority, and +entered the Senate in the month of January 1860. + +The United States of America consisted then of thirty-eight States and +ten Territories. Each State is governed by its own parliament, which +consists of a House of Senate and a House of Representatives. The +whole of these States and Territories are again united under a Federal +Government, at the head of which is the President of the United States. +Each State sends to the Federal Government two Senators and from one to +thirty Representatives, according to its population. + +The State of Ohio, in whose Senate Garfield took his seat for the first +time, is considerably larger than Ireland, and contains a more numerous +population. It was organised into a State and admitted into the Union +in 1803. Its population then was less than fifty thousand. Twenty +years afterwards it had become ten times as great, and at the time of +Garfield's election to its Senate, numbered nearly two and a half +millions. Garfield had won his spurs as a politician in the discussion +of the slavery question, and very soon he was called to give practical +form to his opinions. For years there had been a conviction among many +of the people of the Northern States that slavery was wrong, that it +was a crime against man and a sin against God. The Southern States +where slavery existed defended the institution without shame and +without fear. They bitterly resented any discussion of the subject by +the North, and they took effectual means to suppress any adverse +opinions in the South. + +In the very year of Garfield's election, nearly a thousand white +persons in the slave States were robbed, whipped, imprisoned, tarred +and feathered, or murdered, on suspicion of sympathy with the slaves. + +New and bitter laws were passed in the Southern States against teaching +or helping the negroes; and in several States it was calmly proposed to +deprive the free blacks also of their liberty, to sell them back into +bondage in order to raise money for the support of the elementary +schools. In defiance of the laws of the Federal Government, the slave +trade also was reintroduced, and negroes stolen from the West Coast of +Africa were once more landed and sold into slavery. + +[Illustration: Negroes stolen from the west coast of Africa were sold +into slavery.] + +This open and insolent growth of the spirit of slavery in the South was +slowly rousing the rest of the great nation from its slumber. +Statesmen had been silent too long, politicians and preachers had +apologised for the evil, and the people as a whole had given no sign, +until provoked by those flagrant attempts to carry the vile system into +those newer parts of the country called Territories, vast districts of +only partly occupied land which had not yet been erected into States. + +Then the controversy became sharp and bitter, and the men of the North +began to speak out. To the younger men especially was the system +hateful, and it was plain that in the free States a new generation had +risen up which was prepared to wash its hands of the curse of slavery. +Some of the Southern States, afterwards known as the Confederates, +formed themselves into an association, and threatened to withdraw from +the Federal Union; and civil war between the slave States and the free +was by the more thoughtful and far-seeing deemed inevitable. + +The young Senator Garfield was one of the first to realise the true +position of affairs. During his first year in the State Senate he had +made his mark, in the next he became by the mere force of his character +and the intensity of his feelings its leader. + +The President of the United States at the time was James Buchanan, a +Democrat and a friend of the slave-owners. He, with others in high +places, seemed bent on giving the South every opportunity to strengthen +itself against the North. + +In many of the Northern States, it was hoped by the timid that war +could be averted by passing laws which would please the South. But +Garfield knew better. He saw that war must come, and he urged his +friends to be prepared. One night he said to a fellow-Senator, Cox, +who shared his lodgings, "Cox, war is inevitable." + +"It is, as sure as you live," was the reply. + +Then said Garfield, "If it comes, you and I must fight; let us then +pledge our lives to our country in her hour of peril." And standing +there, these two men, grand types of the Young America which was rising +above the shame of its dark past, pledged themselves to fight for the +old flag and for human right. + +Abraham Lincoln succeeded Buchanan in the Presidency of the United +States, and the Confederates withdrew from the Union, and elected a +friend of the slave-owners, named Jefferson Davis, as their President. +Then the first blow was struck. At Charleston was a stronghold called +Fort Sumter, which commanded the bay and harbour. The fort was held by +Major Andersen for the Federal Government. The garrison was small, +consisting only of some seventy men, who were without provisions. + +[Illustration: The defense of Fort Sumter.] + +The Confederates demanded possession of the fort. Anderson held out +for a day or two, until the walls were beaten down about his ears, and +then surrendered the fortress to the rebels. This was the beginning of +war. + +The news of the victory was flashed through the land, and the nation +stood aghast, to find that the Great Rebellion had begun. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +DARK DAYS FOE THE UNION. + +President Lincoln's Appeal to the Country--Dark Days for the Northern +States--A Decisive Battle--Glorious News. + + +The question of slavery was the real cause of the American Civil War, +though in the first instance the object of the North was solely to save +the Union. Six of the slave States had withdrawn from the Union. They +had appointed as their President Jefferson Davis, and had attempted to +seize all the arms and forts within the border of the States. + +The ease with which Fort Sumter had fallen into their hands encouraged +them to believe that they could easily snap the bonds which held the +Union together. In the South the white population was supposed to be +far superior to their Northern neighbours in all the arts of war. + +Their position as slave-masters had bred in them an arrogant temper and +a reckless spirit. They were more practised at the rifle, better used +to horsemanship, and more familiar with field sports, than the men of +the North. And they fondly boasted that one Virginian could beat five +Yankees. + +Indeed, the Southern States were so confident of their strength, that +they did not really believe the North would fight; they might protest, +they said, but that would be all. + +But men who talked like this little understood the intense love of +country which burned in Northern hearts. The moment Fort Sumter fell, +Lincoln appealed to the country for seventy-five thousand soldiers, and +within three days nearly a hundred thousand men had volunteered. + +Then the war dragged slowly on for four long, weary years. + +At first the tide of battle ran full against the Federals. Their first +victory had encouraged the rebels. Then a battle of very much more +importance was fought close to a stream known as Bull's Run, and here +again the North was defeated. Then others joined the Confederates. + +Several of the most brilliant soldiers and commanders, such as Lee and +Jackson, were Virginians and slave-holders, and these of course threw +in their lot with the South, and for some time the North had no men of +equal capacity to set against them. Thus for months and almost years +it seemed as if the Confederates would succeed, and that the fetters of +the slave would be fixed more firmly than ever. + +But defeat and delay were in reality making leaders for the North. A +young engineer officer named M'Clellan was put in command at first. +His appointment appeared to be a fortunate one. He speedily organised +and placed in the field a splendid army, and it was fondly expected +that a few months with such troops as his would end the war. But +M'Clellan, though a brave soldier and an able man, was a +disappointment. Like the father of Frederick the Great, he was an +ideal drill-master, but an indifferent general. He was afraid to risk +his magnificent army, and while he dallied his foes snatched victory +after victory. + +Those were dark days for the Northern States, yet through the darkness +they did not falter. They felt that their cause was just, and they +were prepared to suffer and die for it. At the head of the State was +the great and noble Lincoln, whose calm and indomitable spirit was +unbroken under the heaviest disaster. + +On the first of July 1863, General Lee, who had invaded Pennsylvania +with an army of seventy thousand men, advanced upon the little town of +Gettysburg. Here he met and partially defeated the Federal troops +under General Meade. Meade had entrenched himself on the hill above +the town; but, though defeated, he was not dislodged. The second day a +further attack was made, and once more the Federals suffered heavy +losses. Part of their position was carried, and Lee believed that +another day would give him such a victory as would place the whole of +the Northern States with all their wealth at his feet. + +It was a terrible moment for the North. The fate of the Union and of +the nation depended on that battle; and when, at the close of the +second day's struggle, the news was flashed by telegraph through the +length and breadth of the land, that Meade was again defeated, a great +gloom and sorrow hung over the Northern States. At Washington, the +Government sat in terror. In hundreds of churches and thousands of +homes throughout the land, the wives and children of the soldiers spent +the night in prayer. + +At length the fateful day dawned, and the two armies met once more. +Under cover of the darkness, Meade had been quietly strengthening his +position, and when the sun rose over the camp, it was seen that once +more he was ready to face his hitherto victorious enemy. + +The battle began at noon. For some time the result was uncertain. +Then for a third time the Confederates began to make headway, and it is +said that some of Lee's generals actually congratulated him upon a +final victory. But the battle was not ended. + +The Federals had their backs to the wall, and the dogged determination +which is the strength and glory of the Yankee character showed itself +at last. + +Again and again the best troops of the Confederate army dashed up the +slope of the low hill, only to break against the stubborn bands of men +who could die but would not be defeated. And when at length the rebels +made one more terrible rush, they were met, hurled back, broken, +beaten, and scattered, and the battle was over. + +That night, the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of +American Independence, there went up a shout through the North and East +that must have reached to heaven. Just outside the town of Richmond, +in Virginia, was a huge prison. Here some hundreds of Northern +officers, prisoners of war, were held in captivity. They had heard of +the struggle going on at Gettysburg, and they knew how much depended on +that battle. + +When, after the first and second days' fighting, the news of the +Federal repulses reached them, their hearts sank. Eagerly yet +anxiously they waited for the morrow. No eye in that dreary building +was closed that night in sleep. The morning of the fourth day rose. +They waited in fear, and strange rumours reached them. Some one +brought word that their brethren were again defeated, and tears of +shame and sorrow ran down many a worn face. + +Then an aged negro approached the prison. He brought wonderful news, +and through the bars he conveyed tidings of the Federal victory. For a +moment the good news was scarcely believed. Next loud sobs were heard, +mingled with murmured praises; then suddenly from hundreds of lips +there rose this glorious battle-song of the North, for they felt, +though many a battle was to follow, that the Union was saved:-- + + BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. + + "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, + He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; + He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: + His Truth is marching on. + + "I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; + They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; + I have read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps: + His day is marching on. + + "I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel, + 'As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;' + Let the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with His heel + Since God is marching on. + + "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, + With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; + As He died to make man holy, let us die to make men free, + While God is marching on." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +FOR FLAG AND COUNTRY. + +Ulysses S. Grant--Recruits from all Classes--Senator Garfield appointed +Colonel Of a Regiment--Asking for Guidance. + + +The Union was saved, but the struggle was not over. During the earlier +years of the war the strong men of the North had been slowly coming to +the front. One of these was a stubborn, silent soldier named Grant, +who, after an early training as a military cadet, and some experience +in the Mexican war, had settled down to a clerkship in a leather shop +in Illinois. + +When war broke out, Ulysses S. Grant recruited a regiment of Illinois +men, of which he was made commander, and then entered upon that +military career which at length ranked him among the two or three +greatest soldiers of the age, and finally placed him in the +presidential chair. + +To General Grant more than to any man belongs the honour of the triumph +of the Federal armies. But Grant was strong because of the innate +nobleness of the men he commanded, and the magnificent steadfastness of +the people who supported him. That support was given with a liberal +hand. Probably never since the days when the people of Israel stripped +themselves of their jewels to build the tabernacle, did a nation +contribute of their treasures so eagerly and whole-heartedly as the +American nation at this crisis. + +Private individuals subscribed vast sums of money, teachers of schools +voluntarily gave up a fixed proportion of their salary, churches and +societies made regular collections, farmers carried their produce into +the camps, and women devoted their skill to nursing the sick and +wounded. + +The highest honour that men could claim was to serve in the ranks of +the army; and rich and poor alike shouldered the musket and slept side +by side upon the field of battle. + +On one occasion the money which was needed for the pay of a New England +regiment was delayed, and it was feared that the families of the +soldiers, as well as the soldiers themselves, might in consequence be +placed in distress. Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing-machine, +who was serving as a private in the ranks, stepped forward, pulled out +his cheque-book, and wrote on the spot a cheque for 20,000 pounds, +which he handed to his colonel for the use of his comrades. + +The army was composed not only of the strongest, but also of the +noblest men of the nation. Ministers led their congregations into +battle. Teachers gathered their young men together, and went with them +to fight for the country; and among the first of these, James Garfield, +the young principal of the Hiram Institute, marched at the head of a +hundred students of his college, and with their help gained the +earliest victory of the Federal army. + +When Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln, as we have seen, appealed at once for +75,000 volunteers. The call, which was read in the various States, was +heard in the Senate of Ohio, of which Garfield was a member. The +moment that the President's message had been read, Garfield rose to his +feet, and moved that Ohio should contribute 20,000 men and about a +million of money to the war. The motion was received and passed with +the heartiest approval, and the young Senator was at once appointed to +serve in the new army. + +He raised two regiments, of one of which he was made colonel. This was +work in which he had had no previous experience; yet he soon proved +himself a master of the business. Commander, officers, and privates +were all alike, raw recruits; but Garfield soon drilled both himself +and his men into shape. + +As a skilled carpenter, he could handle a workman's tools. He made a +number of models and blocks, and with these he studied the art of war. +Then he taught his officers as he used to teach his classes; and so, by +sticking to his old principles of "thorough," he soon produced a +regiment second to none in the Northern army. Garfield's duty in the +first place was to help to keep the State of Kentucky out of the hands +of the Confederates. At Middle Creek on January 10th, and again on the +17th at Prestonburg, he defeated General Marshall. In his regiment he +had a number of his own Hiram boys, over whom he watched as an elder +brother. The affection of the young men for their friend and teacher +was unbounded, and with him to lead them there were few perils from +which they shrank. + +Garfield had not taken up the trade of a soldier for pleasure or for +personal ambition, but out of a stern sense of duty. Brave and +resolute as he was, he was still more remarkable for the genuine +kindness and even tenderness of his nature. Before going into the war, +he was deeply concerned for his mother and for his wife and child. If +his life were taken, there was no provision for these dear ones. The +night, therefore, he volunteered, he took his mother's Bible and sat +down to read, determined to let the voice of God speak to him on this +momentous matter. + +He had not long to wait. As he read and meditated, he could hear one +solemn voice speaking all the time in his heart, like the voice which +fell upon the ear of the Hebrew captain, bidding him go forward to +fight, as he said, for his country and for human right. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +WINNING HIS SPURS. + +The Hiram Boys in Action--Terrible Odds--A Daring Deed--A Ride for +Life--Major-General Garfield. + + +The period of Garfield's active service in the army was a little over +two years; yet in that short time he rose from lieutenant-colonel to +major-general, and performed some deeds of valour that will never be +forgotten. Within three months of raising his regiment, he was +prepared to take the field, and the sphere of his operations was the +State of Kentucky. + +This large and important State, which lay on the borders of the +slave-holding districts, was by no means unanimous in favour of the +Union. General Marshall, with an army of 5000 Confederates, had taken +up a position in Eastern Kentucky; and Garfield, having reported +himself to General Buell at Louisville, was ordered to march against +the invaders. It was at Middle Creek where the two small opposing +armies met Garfield's forces numbered, all told, about 2600; the +Confederates were nearly double. Garfield found the enemy posted on +the double crest of a low hill, and he at once commenced his attack. + +The charge was led by the hundred Hiram students, who were ordered to +cross the stream and climb the opposite ridge, the intention being to +draw the enemy out of their ambuscade. But the slope of the hill was +swept with rebel bullets, and the Hiram boys had to seek shelter among +the trees. + +[Illustration: Garfield and his regiment going into action.] + +While the young men held their position in the timber, a support of 500 +men came up, and the little brigade faced nearly 4000 muskets. Then +Colonel Moore and his loyal Kentuckians volunteered to carry the hill. +Standing on a rock in full sight of his men, and a conspicuous mark for +the Confederates' rifles, Garfield directed the fight. For a while it +seemed doubtful on which side victory should fall, until through the +trees the commander caught sight of a glancing banner, and with a shout +he announced that reinforcements had arrived. The enemy had seen it +also, and at once began a retreat, which soon became a scamper. + +For this brilliant little victory, the first that had fallen to the +Federal arms, Garfield was made a brigadier-general. He was now +thirty-one years of age, and had served in the army about four months. + +Garfield's force in Eastern Kentucky held the field, but they held it +starving. Their provisions were done, the roads were impassable, the +people unfriendly, and the river swollen and dangerous. But Garfield's +early experience as a canal boy now stood him in good stead. Among his +troops was his old companion and humble friend of the towpath, Harry S. +Brown, the poor fellow who, in spite of a good heart and shrewd sense, +had been so long the unhappy victim of intemperance. But the man +adored his young officer, and now, at a critical moment in Garfield's +career, Brown was able to render him and the good cause an important +service. + +The army was encamped near the scene of its victory. Close by was the +Big Sandy river, a deep and rapid and swollen stream. No local boatman +would venture down the torrent at such a time. And yet that was the +sole direction from which the little army might expect supplies. + +Garfield sent for Harry Brown, who had been acting as scout. The two +sprang into a skiff, and succeeded in descending the river. At +Catletsburg, on the mouth of the Big Sandy, they found a little +old-fashioned steamer belonging to a Confederate, and of this vessel +they took possession. The steamer was loaded with provisions, and +Garfield assumed command. It was in vain that the rebel captain +protested, and explained the terrors of the passage. He had to do with +a man whose spirit of duty completely lifted him above the sense of +fear. + +For two days and nights Garfield stood at the helm of the vessel, and +battled with the swollen torrent. More than once they were aground, +but the resolute management of Garfield and the unflinching obedience +of Harry the scout surmounted every difficulty, and at length the +little steamer came puffing in sight of the almost despairing camp. + +The men were beside themselves with joy; they shouted and sang and +danced, and declared that with such a leader there was no danger they +would not face. + +But it was at the battle of Chickamauga that Garfield's most daring +feat was performed. In the early part of 1863 he was made chief of the +staff to General Rosecrans, and in this capacity organised his famous +corps of scouts. The summer and autumn were spent in opposing General +Bragg, one of the ablest of the Southern commanders. On the 19th and +20th of September the battle of Chickamauga was fought. The right +division of the army, under the immediate direction of Rosecrans, was +cut in two by Bragg. As the Federals began their retreat, Garfield, +who chafed bitterly under this repulse, begged permission to ride back +to the second column of the army, which was under the command of +General Thomas. He hoped to reach this division, and encourage the +general to continue the battle until Rosecrans could collect his broken +forces and entrench himself in Chattanooga. + +Great as was the need, Rosecrans hesitated before allowing Garfield to +run the risk of such a ride. At length he reluctantly consented. +Grasping Garfield's hand, his chief said, "We may not meet again. +Good-bye; God bless you." And, with this kindly farewell in his ears, +the young brigadier-general rode away. + +With three companions for guides, he made for the tangled forest. Then +they trotted past Rossville. Here, as they swept along the narrow +road, a thousand rifles opened fire upon them, and two of the little +party fell. They had ridden into a body of Confederate skirmishers who +were hanging upon the flank of Thomas's army. + +Garfield put his horse to the fence and leaped into a cottonfield. The +hedge on the other side of the field was lined with muskets. Garfield +rode a zig-zag course across the field, and so prevented the enemy from +taking aim. His course slanted upwards, and he knew that if he could +but gain the top of the hill, he would be out of range of the rebel +rifles. Twice a volley was fired, and the second time his horse +received a nasty flesh wound; but still Garfield was uninjured. His +good horse, though losing blood fast, kept on. He had reached the +crest of the hill just as the second volley of bullets whizzed past +him, and the next moment he was safe. A party of Thomas's troops rode +out to meet him, they dashed down the hill together, and in a few more +minutes Garfield's horse dropped dead at the feet of General Thomas. + +But the object of his ride was accomplished. Thomas held out long +enough to enable Rosecrans to strengthen himself and occupy +Chattanooga, and the army was saved. The stand which General Thomas +made at Chickamauga was said to be the most brilliant defence of the +whole war, and the ride of Garfield the most heroic deed. For this +exploit he was raised to the rank of major-general. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FILLING THE GAP. + +Called to Washington--Elected to the Congress--His Plan for increasing +the Army--The Slaves' Friend--Abraham Lincoln shot--Stilling the Tumult. + + +After the battle of Chickamauga, General Garfield retired from the army. +His help was greatly needed in a sphere where the same courage would find +scope, but where other gifts besides decision and dash were required. + +He had been a State Senator for Ohio for several years. Now he was to +become a Member of Congress, the national Parliament of the United States. + +He was elected a representative of Congress in 1862, but did not +immediately take his seat. So far, his place seemed with the army; but +when, in 1863, immediately after the battle of Chickamauga, he went with +despatches to Washington, President Lincoln expressed a strong desire +that he should remain, and help to guide the affairs of the war in the +national Parliament. Such help as his was needed. Lincoln was beset by +timid and divided, and in some cases interested, advisers, and the +presence of a strong, fearless counsellor, as wise and experienced as +Garfield, was a great accession of strength. + +Here his moral courage was soon put to the test. More soldiers were +urgently required, and two plans were laid before the country. One was +to offer a bounty to volunteers; the other plan was to pass a law +requiring every able-bodied man between the ages of eighteen and +forty-five to be enrolled. + +Garfield's party favoured the former plan. Garfield himself approved the +latter. He said that, in such times as these, only the most worthless +men would want to be bought, the best would feel it a duty to serve their +country, and his vote was given in favour of compulsory enlistment. It +was a step that required courage, for it placed him in opposition to the +whole of his friends and supporters. But he said, "I must vote according +to conscience. My constituents may refuse to elect me again, but for +fear of that, I cannot trample on my convictions." By his eloquence he +was able to carry the law calling out half a million of men, and it was +not long before he convinced the whole country, as he had convinced +Congress, of the wisdom of his advice. + +Garfield had long ago discovered that it was almost as dangerous to +refuse his friends as to oppose his foes. But the straight and simple +line he had marked out for himself was his sufficient guide. There was +one man, he used to say, from whose company he could never escape. He +must eat, walk, work, and sleep with him; and no matter whom he +disappointed besides, he was bound to gain and keep the respect of that +one individual, who was himself. It was a wholesome saying, and it +expressed the principles which guided all his public life. + +While the war lasted, no man more resolutely opposed any kind of +concession to the rebels; but when it was ended, he was foremost in his +attempts to soothe the passions which the war had enkindled. + +From one point, however, he never flinched; that was in the treatment of +the negroes. He had begun his career as their advocate, he continued it +as their protector and friend. When an officer on service, he had risked +his position, and even his life, by refusing to surrender a poor fugitive +slave who had sought shelter in his camp, although ordered to do so by +his superior officer. And when, at the close of the war, a bill was +brought before Congress to limit the rights of the freed slaves, Garfield +indignantly and successfully opposed it. + +On the 14th of April 1865, just after being elected to the Presidency for +the second time, Abraham Lincoln was shot by a rebel sympathiser, named +Booth. And the same night the life of the Secretary of State, Seward, +was also attempted. These crimes roused the people of the North to +madness. In every city the men assembled with ominous cries for +vengeance. + +In New York, a foolish man called out that Lincoln ought to have been +shot long ago. That cruel speech cost the speaker his life. He was +struck down by a hundred hands. Then a vast crowd gathered in front of +the _World_ newspaper office, which was a supporter of the rebels. It +was a crisis when a single spark might kindle a fire that only could be +put out by bloodshed. At that moment a man stepped out upon the balcony +of the City Hall,--a tall, portly man, whose mighty voice was heard above +the tumult of the crowd of angry men. There was stillness, and then, +solemnly and slowly, the voice cried, "Fellow-citizens,--Clouds and +darkness are round Him! His pavilion is on the dark waters, and thick +clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the habitation of His +throne! Mercy and truth shall go before His face! Fellow-citizens, God +reigns, and the Government at Washington still lives!" As the angry +waves of Galilee were hushed at the sound of the voice of Christ, so did +the surging passion of that great multitude grow still at the words of +His servant that day. Men ceased from cries of vengeance, and turned to +Him who "had made His throne in the heavens," and bowed their hearts +before Him. + +The voice which swayed and stilled the crowd that day was the voice of +Garfield; he it was who, in that dreadful moment, stood in the gap +between the living and the dead. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE HOUR AND THE MAN. + +Statesman and Citizen--Leader of the House of Representatives--Elected +President--The Secret of Success--Struck down by an Assassin--Hovering +between Life and Death--Death and Burial. + + +Garfield's life, above that of most men, was given to the world as a +splendid example of perfect integrity and manly independence. All +through that romantic career this had been its most remarkable feature. +His talents were great, his powers of endurance were great, his energy +and courage were great; but his love of right was greater and grander +than all. + +From that moment when he awoke to a true sense of his responsibilities +as a servant of God, he began to fit himself for all the duties of man. +For whatever duty claimed his service he was found prepared; and when +the call came suddenly to the kingly seat, and then yet more swiftly to +the martyr's crown, he was still found ready. Dividing his time +between Congress at Washington and his little home farm at Mentor, he +served his nation as a statesman, and ruled his happy household as a +citizen. + +His noble mother, by whose godly counsel he had walked, spent some +happy years in his home; while his brave and loving wife cheered and +helped and inspired him in those days of patient service. + +Gradually he gained the position of Leader of the House of +Representatives. In 1879 he was elected Senator of the United States; +and then, quite unexpectedly, in the following year he was lifted into +the highest place of all. + +The President of the United States is elected every four years. In +each State a number of persons known as "electors" are chosen by the +votes of the people. The number of these electors is exactly the same +as the number of the Representatives of each State. These persons then +meet and elect the President and Vice-President for the ensuing four +years. The great and dignified office of President is the summit of an +American's ambition; and it is only in the United States that a poor +lad may hope and believe it possible for him to climb from the humblest +position to a rank which places him on an equality with kings. + +Long before the time for election, the great parties in the State +select their candidates for this high office. Garfield belonged to the +Republican party, and the people chiefly opposed to him were called +Democrats. Previous to the Presidential election, the leading men of +the party met in a vast hall at Chicago to decide upon a candidate. +Several names were proposed, but it was found at first impossible to +select one man upon whom all the delegates of the Republican party +could agree. + +[Illustration: Mrs. James Garfield.] + +Thirty-five times a ballot had been taken, and they seemed no nearer +than before. But at the thirty-fifth it was found that one name had +received about fifty votes. When that name was read, it was greeted +with a mighty cheer, which grew louder and louder, until the whole of +the vast building resounded with the name of James A. Garfield. +Another ballot was taken, and Garfield was found to be the chosen of +his party. + +He was nominated as the Republican candidate; and on November 2, 1880, +the "little sapling" of the Western Reserve became the President of the +United States, the uncrowned monarch of one of the greatest nations of +the world. Thus had he marched along. At fourteen he was working at +the carpenter's bench; at sixteen he was a canal boatman; two years +later he entered the Chester school; at twenty-one he was a common +school teacher. + +Then in his twenty-third year he entered the university, graduating +three years afterwards. At twenty-seven he became principal of the +Hiram Institute. The next year he was a Member of the Ohio Senate. At +thirty-one he was at the head of a regiment; at thirty-two, a +major-general; at thirty-three, a Member of Congress; at forty-eight he +was made a Member of the National Senate; and at fifty he became +President of the United States. + +We have said that the secret of Garfield's success was his integrity. +To this he owed the respect which advanced him to each position of +trust until it made him head of the Government. And it was to this +noble quality of his character that he owed his death. Corruption had +grown up in connection with the offices of State, and Garfield's last +mission was to purge the Government of this taint. He was resolved to +set his face against "the waste of time and the obstruction to public +business caused by the greedy crowd of office-seekers." And he also +announced that "rigid honesty and faithful service would be required +from every officer of the State." + +This conduct bitterly annoyed some of his own party, who had expected +that Garfield would follow the example of other Presidents, and turn +out all the civic officers, to make room for his own friends. This +annoyance at length found expression in the wicked act of a wretched +creature, a disappointed office-seeker, named Guiteau. + +The new President had been but a few months in office, when Guiteau +followed him into the railway station at Washington, and, as he entered +the waiting-room, shot him in the back. The President fell wounded, +but not unconscious. In great pain, he still remembered his loved +ones, and moaned, "My poor wife and children." Then he dictated a +message to his wife. + +A struggle with death ensued, on which the whole world looked with awe. + +For weeks the President hovered between life and death, showing ever +the same sublime spirit of cheerful patience and Christian resignation +which had adorned his life. At length the end came, and on the 19th of +September 1881 he fell asleep. His body was removed to Washington, +where he was laid in state. On the bier a wreath of white roses +rested, bearing the simple inscription--"From Queen Victoria to the +memory of the late President Garfield, an expression of her sorrow, and +her sympathy with Mrs. Garfield and the American nation." + +Through that room passed a hundred and thirty thousand persons of all +ranks, to take one last look at the man whose life had been so great, +and whose dying had been so glorious. Then in the cemetery of his +native Cleveland, James A. Garfield was laid to rest. + +The spontaneous affection of his countrymen amply provided for his +beloved family; and his martyrdom, it was said, did more than any other +event could have done to draw the North and South together. His death +was mourned, and the manner of it hated by every section and party +alike, and the whole nation, united now in sorrow, bowed in loving +tenderness over the grave of one of its greatest children. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LOOKING BACK. + +One of the pleasantest things in the story of Garfield is the devotion +of friends and companions, which followed and helped him all his life. +To an orphan lad, the son of a poor widow in the backwoods of the State +of Ohio, there seemed little chance of greatness; and yet out of that +poor cabin in the woods, in which sat the weeping mother and her four +fatherless children, came one who was destined to stand among princes. + +It was the self-denial of his mother, elder brother, and sister which +made it possible for James Garfield to rise. When the father died +suddenly, leaving his family on the comparatively new clearing, Thomas, +the eldest son, became the manager of the farm. "I can plough and +plant, mother. I can sow the wheat too, and cut the wood, milk the +cows, and do heaps of things for you." + +[Illustration: The White House.] + +This was the elder lad's answer to his mother's question, "Should they +sell the farm now that her husband was dead?" and it decided her. And +so the boy-farmer commenced his labours, and mother and children toiled +together in humble and happy love. + +But though Thomas was compelled to work, he was determined that his +baby brother should have an education. And when a school was opened +some distance off, he resolved that "Jimmy" must be one of the +scholars. But how was a lad of four to get to school nearly two miles +away. The answer came from a devoted sister, who said, "I'll carry +him"; and the good, brave girl, with a homely name and a noble heart, +trudged the long distance day by day, with a little sister at her side, +and a little brother on her back. And that was how, aided by loving +hands and loyal hearts, little James Garfield, the future professor, +and general, and President of the United States, began his career. + +You remember how Thomas, with all his duties and responsibilities about +the farm, yet found a little time on his hands to do odd jobs for a +neighbour, and so obtain a little money. + +When he came home with his first earnings, he walked straight up to his +mother, laid it down in her lap, and said, "Now the shoemaker can come +and make Jimmy a pair of shoes." What a splendid fellow Thomas was! +He seemed to have no thought for himself, but only to be wearing out +his young life for others. Surely in the long hereafter, when they +reckon up the good deeds in each life, the reaping of this little +backwoods' farmer will be a glorious one, for he sowed a mighty harvest +of love. + +One story of this dear brother should never be forgotten. His brother +James slept on the floor of the loft beside him, and the restless +little fellow would kick off the blankets a dozen times in a night. +Then, half awake, he would say, "Tom, cover me up"; and the patient +hand, that never tired of helping others, would replace the clothing, +and the little head would sink down again on its hard pillow. + +Five-and-twenty years afterwards, when at the head of an army, and +after a great battle, he lay down on the battlefield to sleep. An +officer heard him say, "Tom, cover me up." A friendly hand drew the +blanket over his shoulder, and awoke him by the act. On being told of +his saying, General Garfield sat a moment silent, then he told his +comrades how he had been helped at home, and all through life; and as +he spoke of this brother's love, his heart grew too full, and he turned +aside and wept. + +Surely if there is one lesson more than another to learn from the story +of this splendid life, it is to be found in the sacrifice of this elder +brother, who, like Jonathan of old, stepped aside and lent a hand that +another should climb over his head. + +Garfield was like David. His was the magnetic soul that drew all men +to him, and then drew forth the best and brightest impulses of their +natures. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Story of Garfield, by William G. 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