political life, but any American citizen who has intelligence may hope to participate directly in his country's government. There a man's influence is not so much or so intrinsically his wealth as his political power; and in no country can influence and position, acquired in other departments of life, be brought to bear so quickly and so directly upon politics as in the United States. So with Garfield. It was not only his eloquence and political speeches that gave a certain amount of political influence around Hiram; it was also the fact that he was an able teacher, a man competent in his own profession.

When Garfield entered the political field, he identified himself with the Republican party, and distinguished himself as a keen anti-slavery thinker and speaker. He accepted at one time a challenge to hold a debate with a local Democrat champion, and he secured his own reputation by defeating his opponent. For the present, though, he refused all suggestions to stand as a candidate for the State Legislature. In 1859 his old university Idid him the honour to invite him to deliver the master's oration on Commencement Day; and, almost immediately after his return from New England, he was requested to accept nomination as State senator. It was a very high honour for one so young; and when he found that it was possible to discharge the duties of senator without injuring very much his usefulness at Hiram Institute, he consented to stand. He was elected by a large majority, and took his seat in January 1860. He was not yet twenty-nine years old. His supporters had very great faith in his powers. Before long their faith became knowledge. He became one of the most noted members and most important speakers, and he, with two other members

named Coxe and Munro, became known as the 'Radical Triumvirate.'

It was a thrilling period in the history of American politics. Lincoln had been elected President in 1861, and the Southern States were preparing for war. Garfield was highly excited over the great question of the day. He was a most enthusiastic supporter of the Federal Constitution, and a devoted admirer of Lincoln. His language, in speaking of President Buchanan and his Cabinet, who had secretly used the resources of the Government to secure the dismemberment of the nation, was bitter and fierce, almost virulent. When Lincoln called for 75,000 men after Fort Sumter had been fired upon, Garfield sprang to his feet in the senate at Columbus, and proposed that Ohio should contribute 20,000 men and three million dollars as the quota of the State. The motion was enthusiastically carried, and from that moment Garfield's military career may be said to have begun. Dennison, governor of Ohio, immediately employed him in collecting stores and in organizing supplies and troops. At Cleveland he helped to raise the Seventh and Eighth Ohio Regiments, but he refused the colonelcy of either, on account of his military inexperience. He was ready, however, for a subordinate position, and as lieutenant-colonel recruited the Forty-Second Ohio Regiment, in which there were many Hiram students. No suitable colonel, however, could be got for the regiment, and at last, after many requests from both officers and men, Garfield consented to take the command. He immediately set himself with all his old restless energy to master his new profession; he studied tactics and evolutions, and he drilled his regiment till it was one of the smartest in the service.

In December 1861, Colonel Garfield was sent to join General Buell, then acting in Eastern Kentucky against the Southern General Marshall. When he arrived he was asked by his general to suggest a plan of operation. He had it ready in a night, and so pleased was Buell with the intelligence displayed in it, that he requested Garfield to proceed at once to carry it out. The result was the battle of Middle Creek on January 10, 1862, for his conduct in which Colonel Garfield was made a brigadier-general. He was said to be the youngest officer of his rank in the army. Garfield took part also in the great battle at Shiloh (April 1862), and served subsequently before Corinth. He was made chief of the staff to General Rosecrans (February 1863), over whom he soon obtained a very great influence. It was on the advice of Garfield, opposed by all the other officers, that Rosecrans advanced at the critical moment; and the success of the movement abundantly proved that the untrained soldier had a clearer sight than the educated Westpointers. Garfield had organized a 'bureau of military information,' and it was the intelligence he had received by this means that led him to counsel Rosecrans.

After the battle of Chickamauga, he attained further promotion to be major-general. After two years and three months' service in the field, General Garfield was elected member of Congress for his native State. He would fain have remained a soldier; but President Lincoln was eager to have some experienced military adviser with him in the Legislature; and Garfield, relinquishing his command with a sigh, obeyed the wish of the President. Hiram Institute was unwill

ing to sever its connexion with its brilliant student

and teacher.

When he entered Ohio Senate, his fellow

teachers undertook extra work; when he entered Congress, his name was retained on the prospectus as 'Advisory Principal and Lecturer' till 1865, and until his death he was on the Board of Trustees.

General Garfield was a resolute and brave officer, and his men would follow him anywhere. He was prompt in the face of danger, and never considered his own safety in performing his duty. After the battle of Chickamauga, General Rosecrans desired to send a message to General Thomas, across a country held by a Confederate force. Garfield undertook to carry the message; his bold ride was thus described in the New York Tribune: - 'Rosecrans hesitates, then says, "As you will, General;" and then, reaching Garfield his hand, he adds, while his face shows his emotion, "We may not meet again. Good-bye. God bless you!" Though one of the bravest men and ablest soldiers that ever lived, Rosecrans has a heart as tender and gentle as a woman's. He thinks Garfield is going to well-nigh certain death, and he loves him as David loved Jonathan. Again he wrings his hand, and then they part, Rosecrans to the rear to rally his broken troops, Garfield to a perilous ride in pursuit of Thomas.

'Captain Gaw and two of his orderlies go with Garfield to guide the way. They make a wide detour to avoid the Confederates, and, by the route they take, it is eight miles of tangled forest and open road before they get to Thomas, and at any turn they may come upon the enemy.

'At Rossville they take the Lafayette Road, guiding their way by the sound of the firing, and moving cautiously, for they are now nearing the battlefield. The road here is scarcely more than a lane, flanked on one side by a thick wood, and on the other by an open cotton-field. No troops

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are in sight, and on they gallop at a rapid pace; and they have left Rossville a thousand yards behind, when suddenly, from along the left of the road, a volley of a thousand Minieballs falls among them, thick as hail, wounding one horse, killing another, and stretching the two orderlies on the ground lifeless. They have ridden into an ambuscade of a large body of Longstreet's skirmishers and sharpshooters, who, entering the fatal gap in the right centre, have pressed thus far upon the flank of Thomas.

'Garfield is mounted on a magnificent horse, that knows his rider's bridle hand as well as he knows the route to his fodder. Putting spurs to his side, he leaps the fence into the cotton-field. The opposite fence is lined with grey blouses, and a single glance tells him that they are loading for another volley. He has been in tight places before, but this is the tightest. Putting his lips firmly together, he says to himself, "Now is your time; be a man, Jim Garfield!" He speaks to his horse, and lays his left hand gently on the rein of the animal. The trained beast yields kindly to his touch; and, putting the rowels into his side, Garfield takes a zigzag course across the cotton-field. It is his only chance; he must tack from side to side, for he is a dead man if they get a steady aim upon him.

'He is riding up an inclined plane of about four hundred yards, and if he can pass the crest he is in safety. But the grey fellows can load and fire twice before he reaches the summit, and his death is a thing certain, unless Providence has more work for him to do on this footstool. Up the hill he goes, tacking, when another volley bellows from out the timber. His horse is struck,—a flesh wound,—but the noble animal only leaps forward the faster. Scattering bullets whiz