hat on the soil of that
State another such a growth has ever deformed the face of nature, and
darkened the light of God's day!"

CHAPTER XXVII.

GARFIELD'S COURSE IN CONGRESS.

If Garfield at once took a prominent place in the House of
Representatives, it was by no means because it was composed of inferior
men. On the other hand, there has seldom been a time when it contained a
larger number of men either prominent, or destined in after days to be
prominent. I avail myself of the detailed account given of its members
by Major Bundy, in his excellent Life of Garfield. There are some names
which will be familiar to most of my young readers:

"Its then most fortunate and promising member was Schuyler Colfax, the
popular Speaker. But there were three young members who were destined to
a more lasting prominence. The senior of these who had enjoyed previous
service in he House, was Roscoe Conkling, already recognized by Congress
and the country as a magnificent and convincing speaker. The other two
were James G. Blaine and James A. Garfield. Only a year the senior of
Garfield, Blaine was about to begin a career as brilliant as that of
Henry Clay, and the acquisition of a popularity unique in our political
history. But in this Congress there were many members whose power was
far greater than that of either of the trio, who may yet be as much
compared as Clay, Webster, and Calhoun were in former days.

"In the first place, there was Elihu B. Washburne, 'the watch-dog of the
treasury,' the 'father of the House,' courageous, practical, direct, and
aggressive. Then there was Thaddeus Stevens, who was one of the very few
men capable of driving his party associates--a character as unique as,
and far stronger than, John Randolph; General Robert C. Schenck, fresh
from the army, but a veteran in Congress, one of the ablest of practical
statesmen; ex-Governor Boutwell, of Massachusetts; ex-Governor Fenton,
of New York, a very influential member, especially on financial
questions; Henry Winter Davis, the brilliant orator, of Maryland;
William B. Allison, since one of the soundest and most useful of Iowa's
Senators; Henry L. Dawes, who fairly earned his promotion to the
Senate, but who accomplished so much in the House that his best friends
regret the transfer; John A. Bingham, one of the most famous speakers of
his time; James E. English, of Connecticut, who did valiant and
patriotic service as a War Democrat; George H. Pend