rk State Anti-Slavery Society, which was dispersed by a mob during
its first meeting at Utica, on the twenty-first of October, 1835 (the
day on which William Lloyd Garrison was mobbed in Boston, and was lodged
in jail for his own protection). A friend of the slave from conscience
and from conviction, Dr. Arthur was never backward in expressing his
convictions, and his children imbibed his teachings.

When a lad, young Arthur enjoyed at home the tutelage of his father,
whose thorough knowledge of the classics enabled him to lay the
foundation of his son's future education broad and deep. He entered
Union College in 1845, when only fifteen years of age. His collegiate
course was full of promise, and every successive year he was declared to
be one of those who had taken "maximum honors," although he was
compelled to absent himself during two winters, when he taught school to
earn the requisite funds for defraying his expenses, without drawing
upon his father's means. Yet he kept up with his class, and when he was
graduated in 1848, he was one of six out of a class of over one hundred,
who were elected members of the Phi Beta Kappa, an honor only conferred
on the best scholars.

Following the natural inclination of his mind, young Arthur began the
study of law, supporting himself by teaching and by preparing boys for
college. It so happened that two years after he was the preceptor of an
academy at North Pownal, Vermont, a student from Williams College, named
James A. Garfield, came there and taught penmanship in the same academy
for several months.

In 1853, young Arthur went to New York City, by the invitation of the
Honorable Erastus D. Culver, whose acquaintance he had made when that
gentleman represented the Washington County district, and Dr. Arthur was
the pastor of the Baptist Church at Greenwich. Mr. Culver had been noted
in Congress as an advanced, anti-slavery man, and he was prompted to
take an interest in the son of a clergyman-constituent, who did not fear
to express anti-slavery sentiments, at a time when the occupants of
pulpits were generally so conservative that they were dumb upon this
important question. Before the close of the year, young Arthur displayed
such legal ability and business tact, that he was admitted into
partnership, and became a member of the firm of Culver, Parker, and
Arthur. The firm had numerous clients, and the junior partner soon
became a successful practitioner, uniting to a thor