timate to be placed on the intellectual abilities of Gen.
Garfield must be a very high one. Nature was bountiful to him, and his
acquirements were extensive and solid. If I might make a comparison, I
would say that, with the exception of Jefferson and John Quincy Adams,
he was the most learned President in what is written in books in the
whole range of American history.

"The Christian character of Gen. Garfield can not, with propriety, be
omitted in a glance, however brief, at his remarkable career. Those who
knew him best in the midst of his ambition and his worldly hopes will
not fail now at his tomb to bear their testimony to his faith in God and
his love for the teachings of the blessed Nazarene.

"It seems but yesterday that I saw him last, and parted from him in all
the glory of his physical and mental manhood. His eye was full of light,
his tread elastic and strong, and the world lay bright before him. He
talked freely of public men and public affairs. His resentments were
like sparks from the flint. He cherished them not for a moment. Speaking
of one who, he thought, had wronged him, he said to me, that, sooner or
later, he intended to pour coals of fire on his head by acts of kindness
to some of his kindred. He did not live to do so, but the purpose of his
heart has been placed to his credit in the book of eternal life"

A correspondent of the New York _Tribune_ suggests that the following
lines, from Pollok's "Course of Time," apply with remarkable fitness to
his glorious career:

"Illustrious, too, that morning stood the man
Exalted by the people to the throne
Of government, established on the base
Of justice, liberty, and equal right;
Who, in his countenance sublime, expressed
A nation's majesty, and yet was meek
And humble; and in royal palace gave
Example to the meanest, of the fear
Of God, and all integrity of life
And manners; who, august, yet lowly; who
Severe, yet gracious; in his very heart
Detesting all oppression, all intent
Of private aggrandizement; and the first
In every public duty--held the scales
Of justice, and as law, which reigned in him,
Commanded, gave rewards; or with the edge
Vindictive smote--now light, now heavily,
According to the stature of the crime.
Conspicuous, like an oak of healthiest bough,
Deep-rooted in his country's love, he stood."

CHAPTER XXXII.

FROM CANAL-BOY TO PRESIDENT.

James A Garfield had been electe