ative body of the nation.

Doubtless this honor would have come sooner to Garfield, for in 1877 he
was the candidate to whom all eyes were directed, but he could not be
spared from the lower House, there being no one to take his place as
leader. He yielded to the expressed wishes of President Hayes, who, in
the exceptional position in which he found himself, felt the need of a
strong and able man in the House, to sustain his administration and help
carry out the policy of the Government. Accustomed to yield his own
interest to what he regarded as the needs of his country, Garfield
quietly acquiesced in what to most men would have been a severe
disappointment.

But when, after the delay of four years, he was elected to the Senate,
he accepted with a feeling of satisfaction--not so much because he was
promoted as because, in his new sphere of usefulness, he would have more
time for the gratification of his literary tastes.

In a speech thanking the members of the General Assembly for their
support, he said:

"And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly, without distinction of
party, I recognize this tribute and compliment paid to me to-night.
Whatever my own course may be in the future, a large share of the
inspiration of my future public life will be drawn from this occasion
and from these surroundings, and I shall feel anew the sense of
obligation that I feel to the State of Ohio. Let me venture to point a
single sentence in regard to that work. During the twenty years that I
have been in public life, almost eighteen of it in the Congress of the
United States, I have tried to do one thing. Whether I was mistaken or
otherwise, it has been the plan of my life to follow my conviction at
whatever cost to myself.

"I have represented for many years a district in Congress whose
approbation I greatly desired; but, though it may seem, perhaps, a
little egotistical to say it, I yet desired still more the approbation
of one person, and his name was Garfield. [Laughter and applause]. He is
the only man that I am compelled to sleep with, and eat with, and live
with, and die with; and, if I could not have his approbation, I should
have had companionship. [Renewed laughter and applause]. And in this
larger constituency which has called me to represent them now, I can
only do what is true to my best self, following the same rule. And if I
should be so unfortunate as to lose the confidence of this larger
constituency, I must do wh